Beneath the Surface
by homra-kid
Summary: It's been four years since Roxas was last home, now back from college, a lot has changed in Radiant Garden during the time he was away that he is not looking forward to. After leaving behind years of drama to clean up, his worries only double now that he has an overprotective brother, an art career and a red head to make his life even more challenging than before.
1. Chapter 1

Beneath the Surface

Chapter One

**Summary:** After four years away from home while attending Twilight Town College of the Arts, Roxas returns to Radiant Garden to settle back into life with his twin brother Sora. Drama is in the air upon Roxas' return unfortunately, from finding out his brother is working at a pornography film studio, to a cocky male red headed porn star out to get him into bed and last but not least is the inner turmoil that begins to increase with all the stress that comes with having a guy pinning after you.

**Music: **"La, la" by The Cab & "Be My Baby" by Wonder Girls

**Main Pairings: **AkuRoku, Zemyx, Soriku & bits of Cleon

**A/N:** Hey! I'm back with something new and hopefully short! I'm thinking between 5 to 10 chapters but that all depends on how much content I put into them and if the flow goes nicely and to my liking. I will not give any guarantees _ This was partially inspired by Ootsuki Mui's manga, _Calling_. It is great but for mature audiences so be prepared for some good loving yaoi my reader's ;3 You can definitely google and find it easily. I feel kind of bad that I wrote this despite already having a ton of stories already left unfinished but I had the urge to do it!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters! D; they belong to Square Enix!

-x-x-x-

Today was finally the day, thought a very unusually happy brunette. Though he was always a bouncing ball of cheerfulness in front of his coworkers, today was special and there was no way he could contain the growing excitement beating in his chest as he performed his duties with an abundant amount of enthusiasm. In the industry the blue eyed male worked in, there was a seriousness to be held in his profession. Indeed he performed his tasks with ease and great consistency; never one to slack off at all and because of his reliably in the job he gained respect from everyone around him.

Working twice as diligently today, the brunette completed his work quickly and without too much complication thank goodness. Finally tucking away the last of the equipment into the studio's storage room, he locked up the door and returned to the main office. Placing the keys on the hook and gathering his belongings, Sora moved swiftly and ran out of the room in a flash.

"Hey Sora! Where are you going in such a hurry?" Demyx shouted from behind the brunette, effectively stopping the blue eyed and baby faced twenty-one year old in his tracks.

"I thought you'd want to join us at Tifa's place? It is Friday night after all." Riku added as he stopped to stand next to his blond haired friend. Flipping his silver hair back, the male crossed his arms.

Sora frowned, his brows tightening together as he tried not to glare at the group. "I'd love to join you, really I do but I have someone important to meet up with."

"What?" this caught Riku's attention and for a moment he let the shock settle on his normally stoic features. "Who could be so important that you'd miss a Friday night of drinking with your buddies?" The silverette barked with a commanding sound in his voice.

"Well, well, well—do I detect a hint of jealously over here?" another voice joined in with an obvious smirk on his face.

"Hey Axel! Sora over here isn't joining us tonight, says he's got someone more 'important' than us to hang out with." Demyx teased, causing the young brunette to blush.

"Quit it! You guys wouldn't understand!

Shoving his hand into the front of his pocket, Sora gripped his phone and pulled it out. He read the time, 5:27pm on the screen. There was roughly three minutes left before he was supposed to arrive, if anything he'd probably be early Sora thought to himself. Slipping the device back into his jeans, he returned his gaze to the group. "Look, I'm in a hurry." Sora muttered quickly before turning heel and running out towards the front doors of the building but not without having Riku chase after him into the parking lot.

"Hey! Can't you at least explain who it is that you're seeing tonight?"

Following closely behind, Demyx and Axel stopped in their tracks just a foot away from their silverette friend as they all stared down at their younger companion. It was made no secret that their dear friend Riku was completely and utterly infatuated with the young male brunette. Axel thought it was almost unhealthy of him, but Demyx on the other hand found it rather romantic. Really it was quite a show to see the usually apathetic star fall head over heels in love with their baby faced Sora every time he entered the room—but to see his demeanor grow restless with panic like this was something they were not prepared for. Still, they both had to wonder in that moment, how in the world Sora could be so damn oblivious to the silverette's past and present advancements.

The tension was unfortunately getting worse by the second between the four friends the more the silence dragged on. Before Sora could open his mouth and confess, the low growl of a motorcycle came thundering into the parking lot. This immediately stole the group's attention and Sora released a heavy sigh of relief he didn't know he had in him as he watched his savior ride across the lot towards him.

To everyone's surprise, a blond haired male was sitting coolly on the slick black motorcycle, his golden locks swaying back and forth with the gentle breeze. His goggles added even more to the mysteriousness of his sudden appearance and everyone except Sora couldn't help but stare in shock with their mouths open. Quickly swerving his vehicle—the cyclist came to an abrupt halt and in that time frame, Sora bolted from his place and jumped right onto the seat behind the blond.

"I'm sorry to break it to you guys but like I said before, I'm in a hurry!" Sora shot them an apologetic look before wrapping his arms tightly around the blonde's waist.

Taking that as a sign to go, the blond cyclist nodded, and just as quickly as he came, he was gone within seconds along with their blue eyed and baby faced brunette.

Riku stood there wide eyed with his feet planted in place. Demyx and Axel on the other hand just blinked in their confusion and took less than a moment or two to breathe in and replay the scene in their heads. As the two exchanged concerned looks with each other, Demyx finally braved the ominous waters and snapped his fingers in front of the silverette's face.

"Riku! Hey Riku! Come on say something?"

At first the two friends were met with silence for a long time until finally a breathless curse slipped from between the stoic male's thin lips. "What the fuck?" he said. "Just who the fuck was that!" this time yelling so loudly that Demyx squealed and Axel was shaken from the sudden shout that he jumped back.

"Maybe he was a friend?"

"Or a secret boyfriend?" Axel added which earned him a nice jab in the stomach from the blonde's elbow.

"Secret boyfriend?" Riku's brow twitched. "I'm his best friend! If there was anything about boyfriends or, or—" Dare he say it, "Girlfriends… I'd be the first one to know! And I did not know who the hell that was!"

"There's gotta be a good reason why Sora never mentioned him before. Just give the guy some space Riku, he'll come around, probably on Monday when he comes back in for work." Demyx tried to reason but the look on the silverette's face told him otherwise.

"Now see here!" Axel swung an arm around Riku's shoulder, pulling the shorter male against him. "Let's just forget this happened for a moment, head on over to Tifa's bar, order the strongest drink she has and party the night away. You can mope around about this at a later time but right now you just need to lose yourself with your friends and forget about your little obsession for a few hours."

Riku wanted nothing more than to abject and do exactly that, which is to mope around and drink alone but his red headed friend's logic got the better of him and all he could do was nod his head and be lead away to his friend's car.

"Onward to 7th Heaven!"

-x-x-x-

The two arrived shortly in front of a two story baby blue colored house. Turning the ignition off as they stopped right on the driveway, Sora swung his leg over the seat without any hesitation and hopped down right onto the concrete.

"Thanks for saving me back there. I really thought I was a goner." He laughed as he produced a lanyard from the side pocket of his backpack and began the quick trek towards the front door.

"No problem." The blond replied. Pulling his goggles down, he looked up at the other male to reveal a pair of brilliant deep blue eyes similar to the brunette's.

Sora stopped once he turned the key and heard the lock click open. With his back still turned towards the blond, he looked sadly down at his feet. "You know, when you came into the parking lot riding on Fenrir, I almost thought you were Cloud for a second. You always did look more like him than me Roxas."

"I guess." Running his fingers through the spiky locks of his golden hair, the blond finally descended from his seat on the motorcycle and made his way over to the front door. "We're fraternal twins Sor, even though I look like Cloud you're still my twin and that will never change." He said placing a hand on the other's shoulder.

"Yeah, I know." Looking up, Sora pushed the door open. "I'll get the garage open so you can put Fenrir inside. Just wait a sec okay?" he said happily as he kicked his shoes off and ran inside. Only a moment later, the garage door slid up and just pulling onto the pavement behind the blond came a U-Haul truck packed full of Roxas' belongings much to the blonde's delight.

"You finally made it! What took you so long? I thought that you'd be here before me at the very least."

Bouncing out from the passenger's side came a rather plum looking male with a bandana tied around his forehead to keep his black hair up and out of his eyes. Grinning, he hurried over to the blond. "Sorry Rox, Hayner here thought that he knew the way just fine without a GPS. He was totally wrong unfortunately. Luckily I was there to lead the way just in case he took a wrong turn."

The two of them laughed and no sooner did their giggles fill the air they were quickly silenced by the sudden attack of a flying shoe that hit the pavement next to their feet.

"Shut up Pence! I knew what I was doing and I didn't need some hand held screen telling me where this and that is!" a sharp voice snapped, causing the two friends to look up and hold their failed laughter in.

"Hey the truck's here!" Sora came up behind the three wearing a plain white T-shirt and a pair of his old gym shorts. "Now, how about we quit bickering and start unpacking huh? Because the faster we bring Mr. College Boy's stuff into the house the faster we'll be able to get down to some grub!"

Pulling his shoe back onto his foot, Hayner jumped and with a grin ran back to the truck to release the door. "Food is a man's number one incentive you guys!"

"I ordered some pizza from Phil's Pizzeria a moment ago so be ready for some of that and a couple bottles of some nice cold beer!"

"Pizza and beer? That sounds great to me!" Pence added before strolling back over to help Hayner start unloading the first of Roxas' many boxes of junk from the truck.

"Hey Sor, I never got to tell you that it's really great to be back home." Roxas turned and smiled at his twin which earned him a smile similar to his own.

"It's great to finally have you back Rox, you really don't know how much I've missed you, both you and Cloud." Sora replied almost sadly as he reminisced on a flash of childhood memories.

Opening his mouth to speak, Roxas stopped once he heard the sound of Hayner yelling again in the background accompanied by Pence's pathetic excuses. Seeing his two friends argue, the blond shook his head. "We'll talk more about it later Sor, right now we have a long task ahead of us."

"Ah, don't remind me bro."

-x-x-x-

Riku had downed just about three glasses of Tifa's special brew. By the time he reached for his forth the silverette was well beyond the first stages of drunkenness much to the bar owner's concern. In no time he found himself slurring his words and jumping back and forth in an awkward emotional state between bubbly and loud until finally he was slumped over on the table in tears. Axel was buzzed that's for sure but not as bad as Riku while Demyx on the other hand sat drinking a glass of soda instead of his usual girly drinks of alcohol and juice in order to stay sober enough to drive everyone home.

Yawning, the red head stretched his arms, "Man I need to unwind tonight. You know that Xemnas had me come in all week? He worked me to the bone! I don't remember the last time he had me fucking like six or seven people in one week! Jeez, I almost thought I couldn't cum today because I've been so drained from all the photo-shoot's and quick blow scenes alone."

"Seriously? You know you could have just said no? You are one of the top five actors at the studio after all." Demyx said with a smirk.

"Yeah, I know but I need some extra cash for the cross country road trip I'm doing in next summer, remember? It's not easy when gas prices are skyrocketing and don't forget about motel, food and shopping Dem. That stuff ain't cheap either y'know."

Chuckling, Demyx finished his soda. Shaking the empty glass with the ice cubes rattling against the walls of the cup, Tifa came around to refill his drink. "Right, right. Who'd you get this week anyways Ax? Besides having me on Tuesday."

The red head released a heavy sigh. "I got Larxene of all people, her along with Marluxia and Saix. Also there was some newbie named Vanitas and two others but I can't remember. But damn that Vanitas, I swear for a newcomer he is seriously masochistic." Axel shivered from the memory. "I don't think I'll want to screw him ever again! You can't pay me enough to do it!" he shouted. "Oh I almost forgot, apparently Xemnas wants me to film with Zexion next week."

"Zexion!" The blond exclaimed rather surprisingly.

"Yeah, Mr. Emo guy."

"He isn't emo! He's just—he's just a deep introverted person…"

"Well for being introverted, it's no wonder why he's one of the top five as well." Axel smirked. "You're just like Riku, except this time your Sora is Zexion."

"Shut up Axel! It's not our fault we have the optimism to actually love someone while doing this kind of work. You've been in the business longer than any of us have and I'm amazed that you have yet to fall in love with any of the people you've slept with." Demyx snapped.

"Well excuse me for having a heart of stone Dem. Really I can't afford to fall in love with anyone, especially another porn star like myself. It's just too…" the red head paused.

"Too what? Just too what?"

"I don't know!" Axel finally said as he threw his arms up into the air.

"I think—I reelly, reelly think he's just—too afraid because he can't handle it if he's not the only one screwing the guy or girl." Riku slurred with his head still pressed against the bar table.

This made Axel glare at his drunken friend. "Can it Riku! Look, I just can't explain it Dem. All I know is that the idea of falling in love with someone, especially in our line of work doesn't sit well with me. Now with that said, end of discussion on that topic starting now!"

The blond frowned, quickly turning his head away and grumbling an incoherent chain of sentences that sounded something along the lines of Axel being a heartless bastard and getting to sleep with his man.

"Dem! Demmy!" Riku sang as he hoisted himself off the table. "I wanna see Sor Sor! Take me to see him! Please! Please! Please!" He begged.

"No Riku, I don't think it'll be a good idea to go see Sor Sor. It's late and he's probably sleeping for all we know."

"Or getting screwed by that hot blondie on the motorcycle." Axel snickered mischievously which again earned him another jab to his stomach thanks to his blond haired friend.

"Axel you are not helping the situation." Demyx hissed.

Rubbing his probably bruised insides, Axel frowned. "Sorry, jeez Mr. Sensitive."

Eventually Demyx grew tired of having to watch his friend's ridiculous antics. With some help from Tifa, he managed to stuff both Axel and Riku in the back seat of his car and begin the drive home. It was rather loud, especially with his friend's singing along to Smash Mouth on the radio. With a great sigh, Demyx found that he couldn't possibly risk leaving both his friends home alone in their apartments in the state that they were in, especially Riku of all people. Feeling little to no regret at all with his decision, the blond star drove straight to his own home with a resolve to put his companion's right to bed and have them sobered up by the next day.

-x-x-x-

Roxas and Sora stood outside their home waving their goodbyes as the blonde's college buddies drove back home to Twilight Town in the now empty U-Haul truck. The night before was stressful with all the unloading but once the pizza came in the work was forgotten and the group settled in with a movie of Avatar and dinner. They had just finished bringing in the last of the boxes from the truck an hour ago, so all that was left was unpacking and rearranging the house a little since Roxas brought home a pull open couch and bed combination while he was living in Twilight Town among other small pieces of furniture. Seeing as the truck was now long gone and out of their sights, the twins went back inside the house and began their next mission.

First came putting away some of the older furniture into the garage. Sora was actually happy to see them gone since they were so old, and in their place they moved Roxas' stuff to fill in the space. It took just about an hour to get the small tables in. When the twins came over to look at the couch and bed combo, they groaned in unison at the memory of how damn heavy it was even with Pence and Hayner's help.

"You think we should even bother trying Sor?"

"I don't know, even with the guy's help it was difficult then. Just imagine what would happen since they're only two of us to move this thing now…" Sora whined.

-x-x-x-

Ten in the morning and Riku found himself with one of the worst hang overs in history and also in front of his little infatuation's house. Just as he was about to reach up and knock on the door, the sound of his cell phone broke the eerie silence and his head throbbed painfully from the chiming of his ringtone. Yanking the device from his pocket, he flipped it open and growled into the cell without even looking at the caller ID.

"What is it?" he barked.

"Where the hell are you Riku?" Demyx shouted on the other line. "Don't you dare say Sora's house! I told you last night to wait until Monday you moron! I wake up after having to put up with you and Axel last night and bringing you two twits back to my place only to find Axel still asleep on his futon but you missing from yours!"

"I'm sorry to tell you this but yeah I'm at Sora's, I'm in front of his door right now at this very moment actually and you're not stopping me from confronting him!" Riku yelled back and then pounded his fist into the door.

"Riku! Why you little—" Demyx turned towards the still groggy red head on the couch with a cup of coffee in hand, "Axel get your pants back on we're going over to Sora's!"

Riku could hear the two bicker in the background of his cell phone and continued to pound on the door. What came next was the sound of shuffling from the inside of the house, and a muffled voice that said "I'll get it." meaning that there was indeed someone else other than Sora in there. The silverette couldn't tell if it was that other guy he saw yesterday on the motorcycle or Sora himself. Taking a sharp intake of air, Riku unknowingly held it in with great anticipation as he prayed desperately that it would be his blue eyed and baby faced friend that would open the door for him.

Unfortunately fate was not on his side this time around. When the front door swung open, Riku found himself staring face to face with none other than the mysterious blond on the motorcycle—and this time it was minus the goggles. His usually sharp aqua hues widened with surprise as he was met by a pair of deep blue pools that were the same as Sora's. Opening his mouth to speak, the silverette realized that he was unable to form any words due to the shock of seeing the blond in his friend's home which left him just standing there in silence like an idiot.

Roxas could only stare at the stranger, blank faced and curious. The surprise on the newcomer's demeanor was quite creepy and he wanted to get whatever it is the guy was here for over and done with. If anything he hoped that the stranger was a friend of Sora's and not just some creeper lurking around the neighborhood. "Excuse me but can I help you?"

"Riku! Riku!" The silverette was still holding his phone much to his disbelief and the sound of Demyx yapping on the other end only caused him to dismiss the call which increased his blond haired friend's anger.

Shaking his head, Riku looked at the blond in front of him and quickly glared. "Who the hell are you and why are you in Sora's house? You know what, where is Sora?" he demanded.

"What?" The sudden hostility he received from Riku made Roxas tense. "Don't go getting all hot headed with me stranger! And just so you know, I live here for your information!"

"You live here?" Riku immediately stepped forward and grabbed the blond by the collar of his shirt. "Are you Sora's boyfriend?"

"Wha-What!" Roxas exclaimed as he gripped tightly onto the others fists. "Are you insane? Is this what it's about?" he shouted, glaring daggers at the silverette's false accusations.

"What is with all the shouting Roxas?" Sora came bouncing around the corner and stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing his twin and best friend in a rather questionable position. "Riku? What are you doing here?"

Riku shoved passed the blond, causing the other boy to stumble into the wall with a curse. "Is this guy your boyfriend?"

"B-boyfriend!" Sora yelled. Looking silently between Riku and Roxas, Sora finally toppled over in a fit of laughter as Roxas scoffed and began dusting himself off.

"What is so funny Sora?"

"You're an idiot." Roxas said flatly, earning a rather murderously looking stare from the older boy. "You'd have to be crazy to think that we're lovers."

"I'm really sorry, Riku. Really I am but, this guy here isn't my boyfriend." Sora said between hushed giggles.

"I'm his twin brother Roxas." The blond answered quite proudly.

In that instant, Riku swore that he died of the worst possible case of embarrassment ever in his life. "Tw-Twin?" he stuttered.

"Yeah? As in we were born on the same day and are brothers and it is impossible to be dating each other because it'd be incest and it's sort of illegal in a way?" Roxas replied dryly, causing his brother Sora to laugh even harder than before.

"I-I uhh…"

"It's okay Riku, it's my fault for not telling you about Roxas.

"Look man, I'm really sorry that I—" Riku began but Roxas quickly shook his head.

"Apology accepted. Now, how about you make it up to me by helping Sora and I move our couch." The blond smirked, with that said he made his way back inside the house to finish the unpacking, leaving his brother behind to continue laughing away while Riku just stood there speechless and feeling red faced and defeated.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm so glad I finished that! I've been writing down brief summaries for the next few chapters so I'm actually a lot better organized with this story in comparison to my other ones ^^; I hope you enjoyed this little bit and expect to see the next chapter in about a week or two. I have roughly two more weeks of classes left so until then I'll be very slow. Please tell me if I happened to make any mistakes because I'm pretty sure I was unable to catch them very well since its 2:37am. Anyway's, thank you for taking the time to read and leave a review to tell me how I did and if improvement is needed (:


	2. Chapter 2

Beneath the Surface

Chapter Two

**Music: **"Sherlock" by SHINee & "The Saltwater Room" by Owl City

**A/N: **Thank you so much for the lovely reviews, I was really happy to wake up and find them in my email the following morning I had posted the story. I also realized that as I was writing brief summaries for the next couple of chapters that this story might actually be longer than I first anticipated. I'm a little frightened because I want the time frame to fit somehow and make sense which is why I'm finding that this will be quite a longer story than I had originally thought. Well, enough of me talking! Please enjoy chapter two my dear readers! (:

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters! D; they belong to Square Enix!

-x-x-x-

Demyx drove like a speed demon. He was never one to be easily provoked, if anything he was just as cheery as Sora much to everyone's surprise. When someone did happen to dance from toe to toe on his nerves though, the blond had a tendency to snap quicker than a twig and the result was usually if not most of the time, devastating. Axel swore that Demyx was a force to be reckoned with when he lost his temper, and the blond was also the kind of person that wasn't to be underestimated no matter what the situation. With such a fierce expression on his companion's face, the red head couldn't help but feel damn scared for his life the faster the blond sped down the road to Sora's house

"When I get my hands on Riku I'm going to wring his neck like a chicken!" the blond exclaimed.

"Dem slow down or you'll kill us both!" Axel yelled as he hung onto his seatbelt for dear life.

"We're just ten seconds away! You're not gonna die!" Veering into the brunette's cozy neighborhood, Demyx went straight towards the baby blue house in the corner.

Coming up towards the driveway, the blond male hit the brakes like a mad man and just barely managed not to run his car into the garage. Stopping with a sudden jolt, Axel sat there opened mouth and pale looking. Immediately Demyx unbuckled his seatbelt and in a flash he was outside of the car and walking towards the front door. The red head took about two seconds to try and compose himself from the near death experience. Managing to find his breathing back to normal, Axel followed after his mullet haired friend.

-x-x-x-

A pounding at the front door caught the three boy's attention. Stopping from their work, they had barely managed to move the couch up against the wall of the living room and thought of the harsh knocks as a signal to rest. Already feeling sore, Riku and Sora opt to settle down on the soft cushions of the couch like the lazy bums they were—leaving Roxas to handle the task of seeing to the door once again.

"I swear there better not be another crazy person like you out there." Roxas muttered under his breath but Riku caught it any way's and just glared while murmuring another apology.

Roxas could hear the sound of an argument on the other side of the door the closer he got to the entrance. The voices were loud but he still couldn't make out the words that they were saying. Growing increasingly nervous, he reached hesitantly for the lock and flipped it open. Gulping, he then made a grab for the knob, slowly twisting it until he felt the door loosen as he gave it a nice swing.

-x-x-x-

Axel and Demyx shouted at one another like it was no one's business. It wasn't exactly arguing per say but more along the lines of Demyx yelling out exaggerated plans on how he was going to murder Riku and Axel trying horribly to calm down his friend. As Demyx jerked around and threw his hands into the air while screaming every horrible insult he knew at the top of his head, Axel watched the front door open slowly to reveal a short blond boy with the prettiest oceanic blue eyes he had ever seen in his entire life.

Taking in the short male's features, there was no mistaking that he was the hottie on the motorcycle from the other day Axel thought. With that in mind, the red head's lips began to curl into a smirk. "Hey there cutie."

"I'll cut him up into little pieces and serve him with—wait wha?" Demyx stopped his jabbering. Turning around he finally saw the spikey haired blond at the door and laughed nervously as he waved his hand.

Roxas was terrified beyond everything and anything at that moment. Gripping the door knob tightly, he prepared himself to shut the door on the pair in front of him in case things got out of hand.

"My name is Axel, A-X-E-L so commit it to memory." The red head said with a wink. "This right here is my friend Demyx, and we're wondering if our other friend Riku happened to be around. Think you can help us out cutie?"

Without saying a single word, Roxas slammed the door in their faces and ran back inside the house. Demyx and Axel stood there with surprised expressions on their faces until a moment later the door opened again and this time they were greeted by Sora and behind him stood the cause of their frantic morning, Riku.

"Why the hell are you friend's with a bunch of insane creeps Sora!" Roxas screamed at the top of his lungs from the bottom of the stairs before running up to his room and locking the door without any further discussion.

Sighing, Sora smiled lightly at the pair in front of him. "I'm sorry about him, just give him some space. In the meantime, please come in and make yourselves at home."

"Okay." Both Axel and Demyx replied as they stepped into the house. At that moment, Demyx forgot his anger at Riku. Instead of going at him like he wanted to earlier, the blond merely nodded at the silverette and followed the group towards the living room in silence.

"Sorry about the mess. We're moving things in right now." Crashing on the couch in the middle of the room, Sora sighed again and all eyes in the jam packed space settled on him. "Look, I need to come clean with you guys. Riku's only just learned the surface of it, but the guy you saw… he's my twin brother."

"Twin?" Axel repeated, the word rolling on his tongue.

"Yeah, he's my younger twin brother to be more exact and he just came back home from Twilight Town College of the Arts. I'm sorry I never mentioned him before. Well, I'm sorry for never bothering to tell you guys anything about my family life is what I mean. It's just, Roxas is a very private person I guess you can say. And I respect him which is why I don't say anything about him or our family. It's really hard to explain."

Looking down at his feet, Riku placed a hand on the brunette's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Feeling the pressure, Sora slowly looked up at the other boy and smiled softly at him.

"There's no rush, you don't have to tell us everything. As long as we know now, it's okay." The silverette said as he pulled the shorter male into a tight hug.

"Yeah it's cool now. Still, the way he came and picked you up from work the other day on that sick motorcycle was bad ass." Axel commented. "I swear, we all thought he was some kind of boyfriend of yours. It got Riku here so fired up that he—oomphf!"

Demyx took that moment to ball up his hoodie and shove it into Axel's face before he could reveal any more information much to the silverette's relief.

"Are you trying to kill me?" the red head exclaimed as Demyx whistled away innocently.

The brunette chuckled. "Roxas tends to get a lot of misunderstandings from people. He doesn't mean to do anything that causes them honestly but it happens."

"Quit talking about me." Roxas' sharp voice cut through the room, causing everyone to jump back.

"Well, if it isn't the topic of our discussion in the flesh, _Roxas_." Axel grinned at him which only made the blond glare.

"Well that was quick." Demyx commented. "Weren't you upstairs fuming little dude?"

"Roxas we need to shed some light, we can't keep playing it out like we're some kind of x-files mystery anymore. And besides, these are my best friends. It's not fair that your friends know about us but mine don't." Sora tried to reason.

"For your information Sora, Hayner and Pence only know that we're twins and nothing else, just like these guys."

"It still isn't fair Roxas. You think that it's okay just to come back and act like nothing happened? Hello, Riku, Axel and Demyx thought you were my boyfriend for crying out loud." Sora retorted at his twin this time.

The shorter blonde's glare intensified but Sora held his ground. After a good two minutes of their staring contest and Axel and Demyx betting silently to see who would cave in first, Roxas scoffed and walked clear passed the group towards the last of his boxes. "Whatever, do what you want Sora but you guys are moving the couch!"

Sora beamed, jumping up off the couch in his excitement. "Work's every time!"

"Wait? Who said we're helping you guys move all this junk." Axel questioned and turned his gaze over to Demyx who merely shrugged his shoulders.

"I did!" Again Roxas glared. "You guys are the ones that decided to harass me, so to compensate for your misdemeanor you're helping Sora and I move my stuff you light pole."

"Light pole? Hey! You wanna say that again shorty!" Axel jumped to his feet and fisted his right hand into the air but was stopped from continuing his insults any further by Sora.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The brunette warned.

"And why not?" Axel spat.

"This is why not!"

Sora stumbled off to the side straight into Riku to avoid getting hit by a throw pillow Roxas had somehow taken out of one of the boxes. Caught up in the moment, the firm plush smacked Axel dead in the face and the red head fell backwards onto his back. All was silent until finally Demyx cracked and released a hysterical fit of laughter. In the end, everyone in the room ended up laughing and pointing fingers at Axel except Roxas and the red head himself.

-x-x-x-

Like the night before, Sora insisted on having pizza and beer for dinner as a reward for everyone's hard work since the group spent the majority of the day rearranging the whole house and getting Roxas settled in. Instead of having Hayner and Pence over like last night, it was Riku, Demyx and Axel to his younger twin's horror. The red head delighted in rubbing this in the short blonde male's face since he was obviously annoyed by him. There was very little that anyone could do to help him in his time of misery though since Riku and Sora were hip to hip with each other and all Demyx did was snicker and tease him just the same as Axel.

Circled happily in the living room with the television on and slices of pizza and bottles of beer all around, it seemed as though the atmosphere of the Strife household was at ease. Excluding Roxas though, everyone felt relaxed and carefree much to the older twin's joy. Despite the laughter perforating between Demyx and Axel, and his twin's usual attitude, Sora wasn't oblivious to his best friend's unusual silence. When the brunette had first heard the sound of the silverette's voice at the front door earlier, accusing his twin of being his boyfriend, Sora knew in that instant what Riku's true feelings were for him. He was shocked, there was no mistake about that, but he also felt relieved and happy in knowing how deeply his best friend's affections ran for him.

It took a while for Sora to make his move. After a good hour of waiting and taking sips from his beer, Axel and Demyx began raving about the room dancing to some commercial on the screen while Roxas groaned when Axel tried to get him to join in. Finally taking that chance, Sora lifted himself up out of his seat and dragged the silverette along with him while the rest of the group was distracted. It was perfect timing the brunette thought to himself.

The moment Riku's eyes met the baby faced male sitting next to him, he found himself tense with worry. There was a firm seriousness to those deep blue pools, an emotion he still wasn't quite use to seeing but it made the attraction he felt for the brunette intensify even more with curiosity. Every now and again he found Sora sneaking a peek or two at him and though Riku tried to pass them off as if they were nothing he was proved wrong the moment Sora took his hand into his and led him away.

Exiting out through the sliding door of the living room, Riku found himself standing hand in hand with Sora in the backyard of the house. They were still within range of the commotion going on from inside—it was something about Axel trying to get a feel of Roxas' ass. Being pulled further towards the side of the house away from view, Riku tightened his grip around his friend's hand.

"Sora?"

The brunette stopped in his tracks at the sound of his name rolling between the silverette's thin lips. His back still turned towards the other male, Sora bit his lower lip before he spoke. "Um, Riku?"

"Y-yeah?" he replied, his voice beginning to shake.

"Earlier today, when you misunderstood the situation…" Sora began and then squeezed his eyes shut. "D-do… do you like me Riku? As in like me, like me? Not as a friend but, as something more?"

"I-I… Sora I…"

"Yes or no?" the brunette finally turned to face him, his eyes flickering under the pale moonlight as they practically pleaded for him to give the boy an honest answer.

"Yes, I do. I like you… no, I love you Sora." There, he said it, he finally said it. "I've been in love with you for the last two years you've been working at the studio."

"Riku…" Sora stared, his eyes now widening from the revelation.

Riku reached for the brunette's other hand and brought them to his lips, placing light kisses on the shorter male's knuckles. It made Sora shiver but he didn't resist nor recuperate the silverette's advancements.

"You're sickeningly cheerful in that vulgar place we have to call work. In the beginning I thought you were annoying but your determination won me over in the end and somehow, you became my best friend." Riku stared intently into the shorter male's eyes. Bringing their foreheads together, they stood there chest to chest, one looking down lovingly as the other looked up with watering eyes. "I've been rolling down in the dirt for so long with the dogs that I almost forgot about how good life could really be, how it really is worth living. You showed me that Sora. The moment I realized how much your presence affected me, how much it really meant to me—I knew in that instant that I loved you."

"R-riku…" Sora shuddered in his hold.

Shutting his eyes, Riku leaned in closely to rest his head against the other's shoulder. The sudden feel of Sora's hands struggling to get free from his grip saddened the boy and he felt at that moment that he would be rejected. Once his hands felt empty and cold without the shorter male's warmth, the silverette prepared to step back and face the music but was taken aback when a pair of arms wrapped tightly around him in a bone crashing embrace.

"I love you too!" the brunette exclaimed suddenly which caught the usually stoic male completely off guard.

"Y-you?" Riku threw his arms around the other's waist to pull him even closer. "You're not making it up are you?"

"No! This entire time, I thought that I was the only one who felt that way!" Sora cried this time into the silverette's shoulder.

"You make my heart race every time you're in the room. You're cold but I notice instantly that you only warm up to me and no one else. Your humor is dry, you're straightforward and you always act cool. You're not afraid to be honest, even when it hurts other people's feelings but you try, you try your best to be considerate despite how cruel your words can be." The tears he tried to hold back began to fall and soak into the other's shoulder. Sniffling, Sora continued. "I wanted to be friends with you the moment I met you on my first day. I remember seeing you defend Demyx from Larxene. The way she was about to hurt him, you stepped in and stopped her, in that instant I knew I wanted to be your friend. I wanted to be your friend, but in the end I saw you as something more and I got scared because I didn't think you'd see me in that way..."

"Sora…" Riku placed a hand on the brunette's head, his fingers running softly through the spikey tresses.

Slowly looking up into those beautiful aqua colored hues, Sora's lips quivered and he began to cry harder. "I love you Riku!"

"You're such a baby…" Riku smiled this time and leaned down towards the wailing brunette. Kissing the male's forehead, Sora shook and gripped tightly at the back of his shirt. He felt happy, so happy that he could die.

"Don't be mean to me when I'm trying to confess to you!"

"I'm not!" the silverette managed to pry Sora off of him for a second before moving his hands to cup the sides of his face. Forcing the other to stare up at him, Riku then took his chance to lean down and seal their lips together in a chaste kiss that sent Sora's heart flying into the air.

Riku then deepened the kiss, his lips moving in—pushing softly against the brunette's until he felt Sora respond back with just as much eagerness. He wanted more, there was no mistake about that but he didn't want to move too fast either. Regretfully he pulled himself away, his eyes glinting and his lips curving into a smirk once he heard Sora's low whine of protest. He was glad that the baby faced male wanted more, but in their current situation it just couldn't be done until they knew it was safe to continue behind closed doors.

"What do we do now?" Sora finally asked which caused Riku to blink at him with a questionable expression on his face.

"What do you mean what do we do? Isn't it fairly obvious?"

"Not really…" Sora looked down at his feet and felt guilty as Riku frowned at him.

"I guess I have to do this properly then since you're so slow…" Riku grumbled. Stepping back, he ruffled his silver tresses and sighed heavily. "Will you be my boyfriend Sora?"

The silverette didn't look directly at him, but he could tell how embarrassed he must have been feeling at that very moment. Smiling, Sora nodded his head hastily before throwing his arms around the other's neck and pulling him down to his height. "Of course!"

The stoic male's smirk broadened, wrapping his arms around the other's waist once more, he didn't hesitate for a second to lean down and kiss Sora's lips again—and this time, with even more force much to the brunette's delight.

-x-x-x-

Back inside the house, the tension between the three boys left behind proved to be increasing with each second. Roxas, being the co-host of their dinner party was hardly having any fun catering to both Axel and Demyx, particularly the red head himself since his drunken advancements on the shorter blond did nothing but strengthen his resolve to murder the guy in his sleep. First he tried to drag him onto the floor to dance to some stupid commercial ad on the television, then he got felt up his ass when he tried to sit back down and the next thing he knew the red head had his arms slung over his shoulders like he was the guy's property.

There was no doubt in his mind that the guy was drunk or so he was assuming, and though Roxas had met his fair share of drunkards before, none of them could compare to the way Axel was responding. Despite being drunk though, Roxas felt that the red head was hardly a light weight either and deep down in his gut, he had the strangest feeling that the guy still knew what he was doing regardless of the wild bouts of perviousness he was displaying. Still he wondered why didn't he do this to Demyx, why did it have to be him of all people?

The sensation of slick fingers danced along the surface of his bare arms. As they ran up and down, the heat radiating from them felt oddly comforting but the feel of where they were headed to did not sit well with the short blond. By the time those hands settled on the tops of his thigh's Roxas pulled away instantly and jumped to his feet in protest.

"Alright I've had enough of you touching me everywhere!" he exclaimed as he pointed an accusing finger at the red head.

Somewhere in the midst of all of this, Demyx had been lying on his back on the floor whilst staring up at the ceiling. It was for this particular reason why for the last couple of minutes it felt like it was just Roxas and Axel in the room since the mullet haired blond laid in silence without putting up even a finger to intervene in their conflict.

"Aw but I can't help it Roxy, you're just too irrespirable for me. I really can't keep my hands off of you." Axel replied with a shameless grin.

Feeling his brow twitch, Roxas scoffed and crossed his arms. "Jeez you're really horny right now aren't you? Or are you just touchy? Jeez, I seriously can't be turning you on that badly?"

"If I say that I am would you be mad?" Axel stood up on his feet and approached the short blond. Seeing Roxas step back, the red head moved even closer. "I'm touchy twenty-four hours of the day, seven days a week just so you know. And now that you mention it, I am feeling a little bit horny again despite all the work I had to do this week but it really is your fault since you're just so damn _hot_." He whispered the last part in his ear.

"Is that so?" Roxas asked as he shoved Axel back in an attempt to get some much needed physical space. "Well sorry to break it to you but I'm not interested. Even though I just met you, I can tell how big of a flirt you are. And speaking of you being horny, I bet you'd have no problems getting an occupation in the pornography industry since all it takes is a heartless egotistical guy like you to have sex and leave without any hard feelings to get through the job."

Axel never really cared much about what other people said when it came to his career but Roxas' word's cut like a knife—it'd probably hurt even worse if he was listening with a completely sober mind but he wasn't. "Oh damn. You really hit the bull's eye there Roxy." Axel gripped Roxas by the arm and pulled him down into his chest. Reaching behind his back, the red head placed his hand on the back of the shorter blonde's shirt and pressed him even closer to his body. "I wonder how much Sora has told you about his job."

Roxas yelped, finding himself trapped against Axel he began to panic. _'Great, just great Roxas! Way to go and open your mouth like that! Now he's pissed!'_ his mind screamed. As he began to struggle, he somehow found his hands pressed up against Axel's rips and tried to push him but no luck came out of it—the guy was as stiff as a rock and couldn't be moved despite his lanky form.

Just as he was about to try giving Axel a good swing to the jaw from his right fist, the sound of the sliding door behind them caught the two's attention and they were greeted by the surprised expressions of Sora and Riku much to Roxas' great relief.

"Thank god! I'm finally saved!"

"What's going on in here? Axel!" Sora yelled. Running towards the pair, he yanked his twin from the red head's clutches and stood protectively in front of him like the older brother he was.

Demyx finally managed to sit up from his place on the floor, his eyes hazing over as he released a long yawn with outstretched arms.

"You're absolutely useless Dem. Why didn't you do anything?" Riku asked but the guy didn't care to answer and instead went back down to laying on the ground without so much as questioning what was going on.

"Answer me Axel!" Sora's voice grew louder all of a sudden.

Gulping, Roxas reached out and placed his hands on the older twin's shoulders. "Hey, calm down a little Sor."

"Calm down! How can I calm down?"

"Yo! Let me ask you this Sora, did you ever tell Roxas the details about where you worked?" Axel crossed his arms as he continued on with his signature Cheshire grin.

"N-no…" Sora sighed and looked down, causing Roxas to curiously perk up.

"What is he saying Sora? You told me you work at a film studio. Is there more to that or is he talking about a different job?"

The brunette looked over at Riku, hoping his new boyfriend would give him a hand at trying to explain the situation to his twin but the silverette merely shook his head.

"This is your call Sora, not ours."

"Riku… we—all of us work together, can't you help me out?"

"No way." Demyx groaned from his place on the floor. "He's your twin, who better to hear it from than his own flesh and blood?"

"Argh, Dem you're not helping!" Sora exclaimed as he stomped his foot.

"Hey, I'm just putting my opinion out there." Demyx replied with another yawn.

Roxas was beginning to lose his patience. Glaring at Sora, the blonde's expression tightened and he crossed his arms to keep himself from starting a fist fight if it came down to it. "Just spit it out would you!"

"Alright fine! I wasn't lying to you when I said I work at a film studio Roxas! The one thing I left out about it is that the studio produces pornography…" Sora finally admitted. Looking at his younger twin, he could see the shock on the blonde's face at the sudden revelation. "Like I told you before I got the job through a friend while I was still at community college, that friend is Demyx over here."

"They pay you to have sex then? Are you a porn star too!" Roxas jumped and grabbed the brunette by the shoulders as he began shaking his twin with surprising speed.

Axel toppled over and began to laugh. "That guy? A porn star? You're kidding right? He can hardly stand being in the same room with me and the other guys when we do our thing! Damn that is just rich!"

"If he was a porn star, he wouldn't live to see his first big break—no not even his first filming." Riku muttered under his breath.

"N-no! I'm the director's assistant!" Sora managed to yell out. Feeling his twin's assault finally come to a stop, Sora sighed again and pried the blonde's hands off of his shoulders. "Riku, Demyx, Axel and I all work at Nobodies 13 Studio. The ones who are the porn stars are Demyx and Axel. Riku works on the filming crew and handles the cameras while I run things in the office and do errands for Xaldin."

"T-then… what I said before and why you—" Roxas' eyes widened for a brief moment, slowly he turned his gaze towards the red head and seeing the guy smirk caused him to gasp softly. Instantly, all regret vanished and his eyes narrowed at Axel. "I'm not apologizing to you!"

"Don't worry Roxy, I don't expect you to."

"I-I'm sorry I didn't tell you Rox. I didn't want you to worry and at the time I really needed something to keep me occupied since you were in Twilight Town studying art and well you know the rest?"

"It's okay, I get it." Roxas looked down at his feet. "But I'm still a little mad at you." He mumbled rather childishly this time, making Sora smile.

"I think it's getting really late now." Riku commented. Looking at the time, he saw that it was finally midnight.

"Should we start heading home then?" Axel asked then looked over at the blond on the floor. "Scratch that, our driver is knocked out."

"I don't think we'd make it home anyways, we had alcohol and I don't feel like being pulled over by a cop this late at night." Riku kneeled down beside Demyx and grabbed a hold of the blonde's right arm. "Give me a hand would you Axel? We need to at least get him on the couch."

"Yeah sure pal, whatever you say."

"You guys are welcome to spend the night. Demyx has already taken advantage of it long before I offered though." Sora said. "Let me find some extra blankets for you guys." Leaving the living room, he left his younger twin frowning in the room much to Axel's glee.

"Aw is Roxy upset that we get to stay the night and terrorize him some more?" Axel snickered as he managed to throw Demyx onto the couch with Riku's help.

"Shut up!" Roxas snapped suddenly. Without saying another word, he too left the living room to the three boys with his usual scowl and grumbling complaints.

With the shorter blond gone, Riku turned sharply and glared at his red headed friend. "You really don't know how to keep it in your pants do you?"

"Pft, what are you trying to say? Oh and before I forget, you and baby face are together now right?"

"You're an idiot. You better apologize to Roxas for whatever it is you did to piss him off." Riku hissed. "And hopefully before we leave tomorrow…" Slowly shifting his eyes away from the acid green eyes of his friend, a gentle rose colored blush filled his usually pale cheeks. "B-but yeah, we're going steady now…"

"Oh? That's great! About time too!" Axel began to rub his temple and sighed. "Jeez, that little guy sure is making my head spin though."

"What little guy?" Sora returned with a couple of blankets, pillows and a futon for Axel.

Seeing the amount of stuff in his arms, Riku quickly took half of the stack from his boyfriend and settled them down on the ground. Pulling a blanket out, he unfolded it and draped the thick cloth over the snoring blond on the couch.

"Um, no one!" Axel exclaimed. He wasn't willing to admit head on that it was Roxas he was referring to but then again he made it fairly obvious how interested he was in the shorter blond.

"Right…" Turning towards Riku, Sora took the silverette by the arm. "Axel, you'll be sleeping down here with Demyx and Riku will be with me in my room!"

"You're already sleeping with each other? And this fast after dating for how long? My, my I've really gotta hand it to you Riku. Remember, use protection kids!" Axel laughed, successfully making the two young men blush intensely.

"A-axel!" Sora whined loudly this time. Unable to find the right words to form a comeback, the brunette finally scampered out of the room blushing furiously with his boyfriend in hand.

"Heh, those guys really are something… Lucky bastards…" Axel chuckled before setting to work on his futon.

-x-x-x-

Axel laid there in his make shift bed next to the couch for well over four hours at the most. Looking at the screen of his cell every now and again, he picked it up from its place next to his pillow—reading 3:13am. Still wide awake, he tried counting sheep but it did little to help him drift off to dream land so he was left with drawing patterns into the walls of the ceiling. He saw clouds, a giraffe and a castle amount other things better left unsaid. Above him on the couch, Demyx had no problems sleeping at all; the guy had been out cold well before everyone else had settled down for the night.

Tossing and turning at this point, Axel thought back to Riku's words._ 'You better apologize to Roxas for whatever it is you did to piss him off.'_ He wondered what in the world he should even be apologizing to the squirt for when all he did was be himself. It was Roxas' own fault for being incredibly short tempered but then again it fit his petite build much to Axel's amusement.

"Heh, well this is just going to get real interesting…" Axel whispered to himself.

Throwing the covers off of his body, the sudden loss of warmth caused the red head to shiver and he quickly made his way towards the stairwell of the house. Looking up towards the steps, Axel cautiously tip toed his way up to the second story of the home. Making it to the very top of the stairs, he easily recognized Sora's room as the red colored door at the very right next to the stairs since it happened to be the guy's favorite color but also because the sound of two people snoring could clearly be heard from inside. Seeing that there were three doors left, Axel took a peek at the one across from Sora's room first. It was the bathroom. Approaching the next door, he found to his annoyance that it was locked the moment he tried twisting the knob. He wasn't entirely sure if it was Roxas' room but the dead silence inside indicated that it didn't belong to the feisty blond from what the red head was able to deduce unless the guy was a silent sleeper. Trying his luck with the very last room down the hall, he was surprised to find the door knob twist open easily—meaning that it was unlocked so he took his chance and snuck in quietly.

There was no mistake about it, from what Axel could see he was in Roxas' room. Though it was quite dark, Axel recognized the shapes of the furniture quite well as he closed the door softly behind him. Gulping, he navigated his way through the bedroom as silently as he could to the sleeping form on what looked to be a rather decent queen sized bed. Approaching the large lump, Axel settled himself on the edge of the mattress. Crossing his legs, he stared at the mess of hair peeking out from the top of the thick covers. It was quite a funny sight he admitted to himself. Reaching forward, he placed his hand on top of the blonde's head and slowly began to run his fingers through the soft spikes of golden blond hair.

Roxas stirred, the feeling of something warm comforting him and petting his head. He wasn't usually a light sleeper but for some reason he couldn't help but feel the familiarity that resonated from the warm touch that caressed through his hair. Unconsciously he reached up towards his chest and clutched the dog tag around his neck, the sound of its slim ball chain clicking together and capturing the red head's attention.

Slowly but surely, Roxas began to wearily open his eyes. Seeing the blond move under the blankets, Axel's hand stopped dead and he thought of pulling it away. At this point, Axel was sure that he'd be caught but there was hardly any time for him to run and hid. With not a second to spare, he was left with little choice but to just sit there at the edge of the blonde's bed and wait to be reprimanded. But the yelling never came like he expected. Instead, Axel watched in complete silence as the young male before him sat up in his bed and began to yawn. The expression on his face no longer held the tight strain of a scold anymore and instead looked soft and angelic. Bathed under the light of the moon shining into the room from the clear glass window, Axel became awestruck by how enchanting the young Strife male looked.

His movements were slow, some would call it graceful even but Roxas was just tired. The moment he turned his head towards the door of his room, he found himself staring at the darkened face of the red head he had met earlier before. It was odd, any other day he'd have been yelling his head off but no such emotion surfaced and he remained unusually calm. Roxas stared blankly at Axel as if he was just a part of the scenery. He knew the red head was there and looking back just as intently as he was but he refused to utter a single word, not even a sound for some reason.

"R-roxas?" Axel finally broke the silence. His voice did very little to change the expression on the blonde's face though and he could just barely hear the light hum coming from the shorter male.

The amount of exhaustion that Roxas was experiencing fell on him like a spell casted on sleeping beauty herself as his head began to sway. Seeing the sudden change in the blonde's face, Axel scooted in further towards the bed to tuck Roxas back under the covers before he could face plant forward into the bed.

"Roxas." He said again.

"Mm… what are you doing in here?" Roxas managed to slur as he cuddled into his pillow.

"Uh. Well, I'm not quite sure to be honest." Axel replied sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Riku told me earlier to say sorry to you but I don't want to."

Roxas cracked open one eye and frowned in the darkness. "That's a dumb reason—for you t-to be in my room so late…" he slowly began to whisper this time.

"I know but I can't sleep and it was all I could think about for a long time…"

"Are you still drunk?..." Roxas breathed.

"No, not really."

"H-honestly, have you been sober for most of the night?.." Roxas closed his eyes again. "I couldn't tell.."

"I was buzzed, I have a high tolerance for alcohol unlike Demyx and Riku." Axel chuckled half-heartedly and was surprised to hear a light snicker coming from Roxas as well.

"So everything you did to me wasn't because you were drunk then?"

"No." he admitted.

"Mm.." At that moment, Roxas scooted more towards the other side of the bed, allowing Axel more room to make himself comfortable.

Seeing this, Axel was hesitant at first but once he felt Roxas shift and sit up a little to look at him as if waiting for a response, the red head decided in that instant to hop right into the space and get under the covers with Roxas. Now lying side by side, Axel felt his mind go blank and all he could do was stare as Roxas laid back down on the mattress and curled himself up into a tight ball.

Axel swore that this new side of Roxas was probably the most adorable thing he'd ever seen in his entire life. The guy was being incredibly calm as opposed to his earlier attitude. He still liked the kid's feistiness but the tranquil sensation that he was currently giving off gave him more depth to his personality, something of a deeper meaning behind the tough exterior he normally presented to others. What Axel was seeing in him right now was something innocent, something honest and true—no masks to hide behind and no walls to protect him.

"Hey, Roxas?" Axel yawned, finally feeling the sleep he'd been waiting for start to overcome him.

"Hmm?..." Roxas barely responded as he cuddled into the blanket.

"Maybe, just maybe I am sorry for giving you a bad impression of me today…"

"Okay…"

"I'd really like to be your friend Roxas…" Moving closer to the blond, Axel pulled the blankets closer to conserve and trap more heat. "Think you'd be okay with that?" he asked, feeling unsure if the other boy would answer since it looked like any moment now he'd be out cold.

"Y-yeah… Whatever you want…" it was the last thing Roxas was able to say before he was permanently knocked out for the rest of the night.

Though his reply was weak, Axel still heard it and with a satisfied chuckle he reached forward and caressed the blonde's hair again. For a few minutes longer, Axel's eyes lingered and he took in the sight of the peaceful state in which the blond male next to him was in. It was odd how things ended up this way in just a day after they'd met but Axel wasn't complaining and he hoped that whatever kind of relationship was developing between them would continue to build up over time. Finally closing his eyes and releasing one last yawn, Axel was taken by sleep just the same as everyone else as he laid beside Roxas in the warmth of his bed.

* * *

**A/N:** This ended up being 14 pages instead of 10 mostly because I needed a good stopping point but also because I thought it'd be good to just spoil my readers teehee. Again, it is 1:41am and I'm not sure if I caught all my mistakes so if you catch any that I missed don't be afraid to tell me (: I'm predicting that this story will be well around 12 or 15 chapters (maybe even more) because I'm already up to summarizing chapter 7 in my notebook and to honest I didn't get every thing that I wanted to write into this chapter. Ah, I have more to say but I kind of forgot, I guess its due to how tired and late it is right now. Any ways, thank you for reading and please do review and tell me what you think :D


	3. Chapter 3

Beneath the Surface

Chapter Three

**Music:** "Stars" by Destine & "History" by EXO-M

**A/N: **My first year of college is completed! My heart is just bursting with joy! Now I'll have more time to draw and write to my heart's content!

Oh! I also found a little typo at the end of chapter 2 when Axel asked Roxas if they could be friends. I accidentally wrote no when I meant to say yes! ); or at least I think it's supposed to mean that? I don't know now ;~; This is what I get for writing between midnight and 3am… Why? Why!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters! D; they belong to Square Enix!

-x-x-x-

Sunday morning felt unusually strange to Roxas. He couldn't quite figure it out at first but there was no doubt that it was one of those gut wrenching feelings he had when something seemed wrong or out of place.

Each time Roxas squeezed his eyelids shut to block out the evil sunlight that spilled into his room, he felt his resolve to keep lying in bed strain. He wasn't a morning person, and whatever it was that caused his intuition to sound the alarms in his head finally forced him to open his deep blue eyes and stare up at the ceiling of his bedroom.

Feeling his mind begin to clear, Roxas stretched his arms out and yawned. As his fingertips glided across the surface of his messy blankets, he suddenly realized that there was an extra weight on his bed next to him that most definitely wasn't there before. Instantly his body stiffened, and he cautiously egged his hand to keep reaching out until he felt the blankets climb up to a firm slope on his left side.

'_No way… Please, oh please don't let it be…_' Roxas moaned fearfully in his head.

Slowly turning his head towards the source of his mysterious morning anxiety, Roxas' voice hitched in his throat the moment he laid his sights on the mess of spikey red hair lying on his pillow. Immediately the blonde's mind began to panic as the color drained from his face. Quickly he threw off the blanket from his body to check that he was still in his pajamas. Realizing that he was still one-hundred percent clothed, he gave out a hearty sigh of relief. His movements on the other hand caused the red head to stir and mumble incoherently and it made Roxas freeze up again for fear of Axel waking up.

Gulping, Roxas fixed his gaze on Axel as he sat up and tried to climb around him. Moments like these he really wished his bed wasn't pushed up against the wall. Realizing the complications he'd have to go through, Roxas sat back down for a moment and sighed again. In his mind, all he could think about was how bad of a morning this was after only just waking up and he predicted that from this moment on it'd probably just get worse.

"What the hell is he doing in my room?…" Roxas said out loud in a whisper.

Looking down at the red head, Roxas didn't know what it was that possessed him to reach out and pull back the covers from Axel's face. Seeing the peaceful expression on the red head, Roxas blushed faintly and he couldn't help himself as he released a soft gasp. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this way about anyone and the only person that could compare was hundreds of miles away.

Shaking his head, Roxas tried desperately to eliminate the many thoughts suddenly running about in his brain. He didn't need to start thinking about Axel in such a way when the guy was infuriating beyond everything to him and he really didn't need to imagine those comforting sky blue eyes and golden blond hair of _**him**_ either. _'No, No, No!'_ he began screaming in his head. _'Enough is enough!'_

Finally scooting himself towards the end of his bed, Roxas had just barely gotten his feet dangling on the edge of the mattress until suddenly Axel shot up from where he laid. The red head's abrupt awakening unfortunately surprised Roxas into a panicked shout. As he turned towards Axel in his state of shock, his back collided roughly into the wall behind him and he knocked his head painfully into the hard surface. Collapsing forward into his lap, Roxas groaned bitterly as he held his head.

Time wasn't quite registering for Axel during the few seconds of Roxas's agonizing performance. The only thing that the red head could recall was the endless tremors that Roxas caused when he tried to get up and that was all it took for Axel to awaken at long last. Now yawning and scratching his head, Axel turned to see the blond next to him moaning with his head bowed and his body shaking. It was a pitiful sight but at the same time the image was rather amusing to Axel nonetheless.

"Good morning Roxas." Axel grinned shamelessly at him.

Seeing the red head's blatant smile so early in the morning instantly made the blonde's blood begin to boil and he sat there gritting his teeth angrily. Now he remembered why the red head was so infuriating to him. "Shut up! Just what the hell are you doing in here anyways? Sleeping in my bed and inflicting physical pain on me this early in the day…"

"Huh? Oh! Yeah, I couldn't sleep last night with Demyx snoring so I came upstairs and let myself in." Axel's smirk widened. "You didn't seem to mind it at all last night Roxy."

"E-excuse me?" Roxas' jaw dropped. "What? But how? I-I just! We—we—!"

"Last night I asked if you wouldn't mind being friends with me and your answer was pretty much like, '_Oh Axel, of course we can be friends_' and then after that you made room for me right here on the bed, we fell asleep together and here we are." Though it was a little exaggerated, Axel got a kick out of watching the horrified expression on the blonde's face.

"You can't be serious!" Roxas glared this time. He really couldn't believe what he was hearing. It had to be a joke. Biting his lower lip, Roxas concentrated on trying to remember what it was he did exactly after storming out of the living room before going to bed. Shutting his eyes, he recalled something, well someone coming into his room late into the night and petting his hair but nothing else seemed to resurface other than that.

"I-I really think this is all a joke. Maybe I was just too tired and I said crap to you okay? Now that I'm awake, whatever I said to you last night, it doesn't matter anymore so forget about it."

Axel's face hardened and he slowly leaned towards Roxas until they were mere inches apart. Pressing his hands onto the wall on both sides of Roxas's head, he looked down at the blond. "I am being serious here Roxas. I don't care how tired you were, what you said last night was honest, every little thing about you and every single word."

"H-hey, space! I need space here!" Roxas pressed himself back up against the wall. The harder he forced his back into the white surface the more he wished it'd just swallow him up.

"I mean it Roxas, we may have gotten on the wrong foot but I want us to try and be friends."

"A-Axel I…"

"Please." Axel's voice sounded almost pleading this time.

Without any warning, the bedroom door creaked open to reveal a groggy looking Sora rubbing the sleep from his blue eyes. Upon seeing his twin pinned up against the wall by Axel as he sat in the blonde's bed with a serious look in his acid green eyes, the brunette felt his brain kick start. At that moment, his body stiffened and he slowly backed away from the room. _'This is just way too familiar…' _he thought.

"H-hey there Sora, good morning." Axel said cheerfully even though his voice sounded unconvincing.

"Um… Hey, w-we were looking for you Axel b-but I can see that—um… I'm sorry if I'm disturbing you guys!" Sora stammered quickly before running outside into the hallway.

Though Roxas was still feeling quite miserable in being caught with Axel yet again, it wasn't enough to stop him from pushing the red head out of his way and making a run for it after his twin brother. Once Roxas exited the room in a sprint, Riku peeked inside to find Axel looking as blank faced as ever. Crossing his arms as usual and shaking his head, the silverette slipped inside and stood in the center of the room.

"What'd you do this time? It's only been what? Twenty-four hours and you're already causing more trouble than an infant."

"I didn't do anything…" Axel mumbled.

Arching a brow, Riku sighed. "Sure you didn't. It's not your _fault_ you were in Roxas' room and it sure isn't your _fault_ that Sora walked in on whatever you guys were doing and ran off probably crying for all we know. Jeez, I swear you're out to scar him by trying to get with his twin brother of all people."

"Riku would you just shut up! I get it already okay!" Axel glared.

Riku's expression remained as stoic as ever in the red head's wake. Axel hated how it always made the silverette seem superior and cold—the guy was still one of his closest friends though and despite their friendship he could never seem to get over that icy demeanor Riku held.

Sighing again, Riku rubbed his temple and slowly began to make his way out of the room. "Look, just go fix it okay?"

"Right…" Axel's reply was rather quiet. "I don't know, I think Roxas may have beaten me to it though."

"Heh, don't be lazy." Riku stopped just at the doorframe. Glancing over his shoulder, the two friends made eye contact. "Well, you better come downstairs with me any ways, I don't think Roxas will be happy if you decide to stick around any longer in his room. Besides, you can wait to apologize to them since they're in Sora's room right now." He said after hearing a door shut.

Axel frowned. It really seemed to him that Riku was trying to take extra care of his newfound relationship with Sora. He didn't know whether to be proud or annoyed if the silverette continued to nag him about always 'apologizing' for everything that related to their brown haired friend.

"I'll do it Riku jeez! Just quit reminding me okay. Seriously what is it with you?" Axel grumbled. Hopping off the bed he then stretched his arms. "By the way, how was sleeping in Sora's room? Did you take my advice?" Axel smirked, leaving the silverette fuming.

-x-x-x-

"Sora!" Roxas yelled. Following the brunette into his bedroom, Roxas shut the door behind them and quickly locked it for safe measure. Turning towards his brother, he found Sora collapsed on his bed, face hidden and buried against his pillow.

Feeling his bed shift, Sora looked up at Roxas. "I'm really, really sorry I walked in on you guys! I didn't know! Honest!" he exclaimed. "I-I knew Axel was a flirt but I can't believe that he—"

"We didn't do anything Sora." Roxas gave his brother a stern look. "Last night he said he came into my room because he just wanted to make peace for what he did the other day. Eventually he somehow ended up sleeping in my bed instead of downstairs, makes sense since it was pretty late I guess." He stared somewhat nervously at the carpet but quickly looked up at him again. "But I'm going to make this clear to you, we didn't do anything Sor."

"O-oh okay… it's just, I thought that you know… he's, with his job he has no problem picking people up and I thought he somehow managed to reel you in…" Sora muttered between pouted lips. "Seriously though, he can get whoever he wants Roxas! I'm warning you so you better watch out because from the way I see it, he's got his sights set on you next!"

"Um, Sor, I think I've already come to that conclusion by now."

"Right…" Sora beamed, sitting up from his bed, he quickly threw his arms around his twin's shoulders and hugged him tightly. "I was scared for a second you know…"

"Yeah, I sort of figured that you were thinking of _that_…" Roxas murmured into the other's shoulder, his bangs swaying until they hid his eyes.

"I didn't mean to walk in during that time either Roxas…"

"I know you didn't. Fate just loves to screw me over…" Roxas pulled back until their blue eyes met, leaving the twins chuckling and smiling together.

Suddenly stopping, Sora stared hard at Roxas. "You're not interested in Axel are you?"

"What? You're kidding me right Sor?" Roxas arched a brow.

"No, I'm not."

"Sora, he pretty much tried to molest me last night. Why would I be interested in a guy like that?" Roxas pointed out, leaving his twin pondering that notion. "Besides…" he toyed with the dog tag around his neck, clutching the thin metal plate tightly in his hands. "I made myself a promise and I'm not going back on it."

Hearing the seriousness in his twin's voice, Sora looked down at his own dog tag that hung around his neck. Holding it in the palm of his hand Sora stroked the surface of the tag with his thumb, feeling the engravings on the plate under his fingers as he sighed heavily.

-x-x-x-

It was way past noon to have breakfast, or at least that's what Sora and Roxas argued about with Demyx and Axel. Riku took no part in the squabble and instead choose to tidy up the blankets and pillows that were left messily in the living room for the Strife twins by his co-works/close friends. Eventually, Sora and Roxas won the fight with Roxas making a rather violent point by pummeling Axel into the couch face first much to everyone's horror and Sora's earlier warnings. Demyx, being the coward that he really was felt there was no need to further endanger anyone, particularly himself and so he quickly gave up trying to argue. Feeling triumphant, the twins decided that they would all go out to lunch at Ariel's Grotto.

In the next hour, everyone got ready fairly quickly since they were all starving. Having not brought any extra clothes since they hadn't anticipated on helping Roxas move in nor spending the night, Axel, Demyx and Riku were dressed in the same outfits as yesterday which saddened Demyx the most.

Not wanting to squish themselves into the back seat of Demyx's small car, Roxas insisted on riding his motorcycle and meeting them at the restaurant instead. At the mention of the motorcycle, Axel immediately wanted to ask for a ride on it as well but was beaten by a punch when Sora threw himself at his twin and declared that he would ride along with Roxas. Riku wanted to protest at first but seeing the shimmer in his boyfriend's cerulean eyes as he looked on at his brother stopped him from uttering out a single word.

As Sora climbed onto the back of his twin's motorcycle, he glanced over his shoulder and grinned widely at the trio. "Though I doubt Roxas will ever let you guys join him on his motorcycle, let me just tell ya—you should never say no to a ride on Fenrir!"

Watching the twins happily ride off on their ride, the trio gathered slowly into Demyx's car with Riku taking the passenger seat and Axel hogging the back as they both grumbled miserably.

"Jeez, you two are pathetic!" Demyx frowned and started the car. Seeing the car jolt to life, he quickly took it out of parking, switched it to reverse and began backing out of the drive way. Carefully maneuvering his way out of the cozy neighborhood, the blond slowly increased the speed—just enough so that he was able to keep up with the Strife twins who were riding just ahead of them.

"What are you talking about? Seriously, how would you feel if you watched your boyfriend ride off on a cool motorcycle with someone else other than you while you're stuck driving in a car to meet up with him." Riku murmured almost incoherently in the passenger seat.

"You're really not making any sense, for one thing he's not just some guy, that's his twin brother, Riku. And another thing, you're not the one driving, I am." Demyx said. "How about you just get yourself a motorcycle too! That should solve your ego problem." Looking over his shoulder, Demyx spotted Axel looking just as grumpy as Riku. "And what's got your panties in a knot? Sad that you're not the one riding on Roxas' bike?"

"Shut up and keep your eyes on the road Dem." Was all Axel had to say as he turned his gaze towards the window to watch the scenery.

"Jeez, just because the kid's the first person to escape your charm doesn't give you the right to take it out on me. Man, way to kill the mood you two." Demyx sighed, allowing their silence to fill the space until they reached their destination.

-x-x-x-

It didn't take long for them to arrive at the restaurant which Demyx was relieved about since the gloomy aura emitting from his two friends became too unbearable for him to handle any longer. Seeing Sora and Roxas already parked and waiting for them, the trio hopped right out of the car once Demyx found his own parking space and locked the doors behind them.

Riku went right to Sora's side and wrapped an arm around the brunette's shoulder. Though taken aback at first, Roxas shrugged, teasingly elbowing his twin's side he led the way into restaurant with Axel and the others following close behind him as they went in.

The group settled down into a circular booth nestled at the far corner, with Axel sitting next to Roxas much to the blonde's annoyance. Demyx sat right in the middle between him and Riku, leaving Sora at the far end away from his twin but next to the silverette nonetheless.

"Hello there, my name is Kairi and I'll be your waitress. I hope you're all having a wonderful day so far."

The group was quite surprised by the sudden appearance of an auburn haired girl. Watching her eye each one of them carefully, her indigo colored hues instantly locked onto Roxas and her smile widened.

"Roxas? Oh my gosh, it is you isn't it?"

Roxas chuckled lightly and waved her a greeting. "The one and only, how's it going Kai?"

"W-well! You know, just finishing up the last of my college courses before graduation, you know, the usual I guess." She replied almost nervously, her cheeks quickly turning pink with anxiousness. "When did you get back? You should have called me!"

"Sorry, I was busy getting settled in the last two days. I'll be sure to leave my schedule open for you next time though."

"Hey, Kairi. Long time no see." Sora waved at her as well.

"Sora! You! Mr. never call or text me! What's wrong with you?" Kairi huffed. "I wouldn't have expected Roxas to, but you on the other hand…" she scolded.

Sora trembled under her glaring eyes and released a string of nervous laughter as he rubbed the back of his neck and pressed closer into Riku. "Aw, come on I've been just as busy as Roxas, Kai."

"Sure you have Sora…" Kairi pouted.

"Am I missing something here?" Axel finally asked.

"Yeah? When do we properly get introduced huh?" Riku turned towards Sora, which earned him a sheepish grin from his boyfriend.

"Oh, sorry! Kairi is our friend from high school." Sora replied happily as the girl nodded and smiled proudly. "Kairi, this is Axel, Demyx and Riku!"

"Hey there, nice to meet you guys. I see your all friends with each other huh? And Sora?" she teased the brunette, seeing Riku's arm draped rather possessively around her friend's shoulder she didn't need to be told twice about their relationship.

"It's a little too soon to call it friendship I think." Roxas mumbled, his narrow gaze directed right at Axel who merely shrugged.

"I almost forgot to mention, Kairi and Roxas use to date during freshman year in high school too! I can't believe I nearly forgot about it." Sora suddenly exclaimed.

"Ohh?" Demyx, Axel and Riku said in unison.

The revelation caught everyone's attention. Hearing this new piece of information, all eyes settled on Roxas, causing him and Kairi to blush immensely from embarrassment of having their affair revealed.

Axel arched a brow, leaning close down to Roxas' level as he stared intensely at him. He sat there thinking, his mind half blank as he tried to absorb what Sora said. _'Roxas and Kairi huh?' _ he thought, looking back and forth from between the two ex-lovers. Slowly a mischievous glint in his eyes replaced the focused look on his visage. "My, you just keep surprising me the more I learn about you Roxy."

"E-excuse me?" Roxas stammered. He didn't like the look Axel was giving him and the longer the red head held that face the more nervous Roxas grew.

At this point Kairi began chewing on the top of her pen and Roxas wished desperately that he could just disappear into his seat or at least vanish into thin air somehow but he was no magician.

"Would you get out of my face?" Roxas finally cried and shoved the red head back a little roughly.

"Jeez blondie, can't you go a day without being violent?" Axel mumbled and rubbed his arm.

"W-we, well…" Kairi stuttered.

"You don't have to say anything Kai." Roxas flicked his gaze up at her, trying to give her some reassurance then turned towards Sora. "Way to open your big mouth Sor…" Roxas said, glaring at his twin from his side of the table.

"Sorry you guys…"

"L-let's just forget about it. Can I start you guys off with a round of drinks?" Kairi quickly asked, hoping the change of subject would help lift the awkwardness.

"Sure." Riku finally said. "I'll take just water."

"Coffee would be great!" Demyx added.

"Root beer!" Both Roxas and Sora exclaimed together which everyone couldn't help but laugh at.

"Water's fine with me." Axel said lastly.

Writing it all down into her notepad, Kairi gave a nod. "Right, I'll be back in a jiffy!" with that said, she left the boys to continue looking over the menu.

"So, once upon a time, you and that girl were an item?" Demyx asked suddenly as a smirk graced his lips.

"Oh my—Yes!" At this point it seemed as though Roxas reached a new level of glaring. Feeling the urge to start ripping his hair out from the roots of his scalp, he tried to take a deep breath. "She was my first girlfriend in high school, I've known her since the sixth grade and we only dated for five months. There, are you guys happy now?" Roxas concluded, his hands being thrown up into the air for an added dramatization.

Axel clapped, causing Roxas to whip his head in the red heads direction. "Thank you for the lovely story Roxy, I'm sure we're all very happy to know about your past relationship. Well, that's one girlfriend down, do you have any more that you'd like to talk about?"

"Axel I don't think it's very wise to test Roxas' patience." Riku warned but his comment fell on deaf ears the moment Kairi returned with a tray full of their beverages and Roxas managed to ball up a napkin and chuck it into the red head's face.

-x-x-x-

Lunch was like a battle field between Axel and Roxas. There was no telling who would emerge as the victor with them constantly bickering at each other. They went so far as to argue over whose utensils were whose, which Demyx found quite silly until he was nearly stabbed by Axel's fork. When the food finally arrived, the fighting between the two boys intensified and they began flicking crumbs back and forth into the other's faces. It wasn't until Axel spilt his water onto the table did Riku finally decide to step in and put a stop to their childish behavior, leaving both men at a standstill. Though grumbly about having their fun cut short, or so Axel complained about, Sora was just happy to see the liveliness of it all.

Finishing up their hearty meal, Demyx was kind enough to leave Kairi a tip before they left. With promises to hang out with her, Roxas gave her a quick hug and his number which she slipped quickly into her pocket before Axel could take a peek. Fully prepared to head back home, Roxas' hopes of spending the rest of his Sunday on the living room couch were crushed when Sora insisted on going to the park a few blocks down from the restaurant. Knowing full well there was no way of arguing with his twin once he saw Riku wrap his arms around the brunette's waist, Roxas reluctantly agreed.

Axel nearly jumped for joy at this but was once again crushed when he saw the twins ride off on their motorcycle to the park before them. Luckily for him, it didn't take long for Demyx to follow after them and no sooner had they gotten into the car they were at the park in only five minutes.

With the sun high above them and the clouds dispersed across the sky in balls of white fluff, it seemed like the perfect time to be outside enjoying the bright sunshine and fresh air. Surprisingly, there weren't very many people out and about in the park and especially around the playground area. Seeing the near emptiness, aside from a few pedestrians walking their dogs, the gang took advantage of the unusual solitude of the place and began running amuck on the jungle Jim.

Demyx was the first to run up and climb on top of the monkey bars. Balancing his feet on the individual bars, he proclaimed himself as the king of the playground with outstretched arms. Though he stood high above the ground with pride, he was quickly pushed aside by Axel who joined him on the structure. Being a head taller than the sandy blond male, Axel smirked and easily won the title of being king when he had Demyx hanging on the edge of the bars.

On the other side of the playground, Riku and Sora sat on the swing sets laughing away together, the silverette pushing his boyfriend high into the air as the chains squeaked with each swing made. Seeing this, Roxas merely shook his head, knowing that at this point the two love birds were too deep in a world of their own to pay any attention to him and that there was no use in trying to ruin the moment for them either.

He neither joined Demyx or Axel on the play structure and the very idea of crashing in on Riku and his brother was a preposterous thing to do. Instead, Roxas secluded himself to a bench far from where all the action was happening. With a small sketchbook settled nicely against his lap in front of him and a pencil gripped tightly between practiced fingers, he began sketching the scene in front of him without a care in the world.

Seeing the blond all alone from a distance, Axel stopped his horsing around for a moment and stood on the flimsy bridge that connected them to the platform that held the slide. His feline eyes fixated solely on Roxas, his mind beginning to wonder why exactly the blond wasn't joining in on all the fun. Noticing that Axel had suddenly given up the chase, Demyx quickly poked his arm but received no response.

Pouting, the sandy blond pinched the red head's limb this time. "Earth to Axel!"

"Wai—wha? Ow! What the fuck?" Axel yanked his arm away from the other's reach. Rubbing the soreness he quickly glowered at the culprit.

Rolling his eyes, Demyx crossed his arms against his chest before glancing over at Roxas. "So, are you gonna go over and talk to him or what man?"

"Are you actually encouraging me to go over there Demyx?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I? Well actually, I shouldn't since there's a fifty, fifty chance he'll bite your head off but then again—", Demyx draped an arm around the red head's shoulder, leading him towards the slide, his grip on Axel tightened. "I think it'll be a great show to watch!" Forcing the taller male to buck his knees, Demyx quickly shoved Axel down the rest of the way into the slide.

"Dem! You're dead!" Axel screamed as he slid roughly against the slick surface of thick plastic leading towards the ground below. Taking a not so gentle landing into the bark chips, he winced and threw the giggling blond a glare. "You better watch your back Dem because I'm going to murder you!"

"Oh I'm so scared for my life!" Demyx laughed again. "Now go! Roxy is waiting for you!" he exclaimed, pointing in the direction of the said blond.

"Yeah, yeah I hear ya." Biting his lower lip, Axel ruffled the spikes of his red hair with a sigh and began his march towards Roxas in stride.

The few minutes of silence that he enjoyed sketching came to a sudden halt the moment Axel stood over him and blocked the sunlight from his sketchbook. Looking up to see the red head towering over him, Roxas frowned, feeling dejected by Axel's tall stature in comparison to his small build.

"What do you want?"

Plopping down onto the bench next to him, Axel grinned and stretched his arm across the top of the back rest. "Oh nothing, so whatcha doin' over here by yourself Roxy?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Roxas waved his sketchbook in the red head's face.

Watching the pages flip gently back and forth in the blonde's hand, Axel reached forward, easily plucking the small book from the other's hand and taking a better look at the pencil drawing he had been working on.

Surprisingly he didn't make any protest to take his sketchbook back. Watching the red head intently, Roxas found himself fidgeting awkwardly in his seat, rubbing his thumb against the hard surface of his pencil he wondered what Axel was thinking as he flipped through his drawings. Though he finally graduated from art school, criticism over his work was still something I wasn't quite use to—if anything he found it frightening to have his skills be judged. As Axel's face began to contort with an indescribable emotion, Roxas began to dread what the man had to say. Looking down into his lap, he took a deep breath, preparing himself for the worst to come.

"This, this looks amazing Roxas!" Axel's excited voice threw Roxas off for a spin.

Snapping his gaze up towards the red head, Roxas blinked, the shock on his face evident beyond anything else. "Wha? Really? But, it's so sketchy though."

"So what if it looks messy? Look here, you went back over it with thicker lines so it's no problem seeing the person." Axel pointed out at a drawing of a girl. "Besides, it's your style and personally I like the way it flows."

"Y-you do?" Roxas asked again. "B-but—"

"Eh!" Axel pressed a finger to the blonde's lips. "All of your mark making, it's beautiful. The way you build up your lines into a picture, I see the effort you put in trying to find what it is your drawing. Now shut up and take my compliment already."

"Uhh—"Still speechless, he didn't know what else to say, so he did what he'd been recently doing a lot lately which was to glare at the him. "Fine, thank you." Roxas mumbled before snatching the sketchbook back from Axel's clutches. Skimming through the pages, he found a blank slate, thumbing the remaining sheets left he made a mental note to buy another book later.

"So, my little artist…"

"Your little—!" Roxas turned to glare at him but stopped once he saw an unfamiliar softness to the red head's face that contrasted with the sharpness in his eyes.

Roxas never noticed the lax features now suddenly perforating against the sharp contours of Axel's face as he stared into those green hues. It was much different than when he was asleep like this morning and now that he was awake, Roxas felt suddenly drawn to him. Since having met the red head all he could ever see was the smug glint in his acidic green eyes and the sexual harassment he received only added to his list of dislikes that he had against him. Yet seeing this side of him; Roxas felt entranced by it—the swirling hues of forest and neon green, the smooth pale skin of his cheeks that no longer held that ever mischievous smirk, it was, dare he say it—beautiful and _enchanting_. Thinking back to last night, maybe Axel showed it to him then too he thought but he wasn't very awake to get a good look at his face so it probably didn't count he finally concluded.

"Will you draw a picture of me?" Axel asked as he leaned in towards Roxas, their noses barely an inch apart.

* * *

**A/N:** Ahh! Late, I'm late I know! I thought that I could manage to make this weekly but it may be every other week since I've been trying to catch up on everything such as my personal art, my family, friends, my tumblr and work… I also forgot to mention sleep! Yeah that's a big one too. I'm just going to admit that, I have a hard time starting chapter's, I don't get into it very well until like the middle of writing. I wonder if other people feel that way too? ): it's 3:12am(I did it again), I probably have mistake's somewhere but I'll take my chances. Thank you for reading by the way and if I have any typo's please tell me x_x


	4. Chapter 4

Beneath the Surface

Chapter Four

**Music:** "Alligator Sky" by Owl City & "Fantastic Baby" by Big Bang

**A/N:** I didn't have anything better to do while I was visiting my mom so I decided to write to pass the time so it allowed me to finish this chapter much quicker than I thought.

I've also come to accept that I write best at night despite my typo's… v_v The ideas are just more alive during that period of time.

Also, thank you for the reviews, alerts, and favorites! It means a lot to me to know that there are people out there who are interested in reading this story (:

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters! D; they belong to Square Enix!

-x-x-x-

Roxas' face reddened, the close proximity between him and Axel causing his heart to pound in his chest. He wasn't use to such actions, maybe from his twin brother but from someone else it was just preposterous—he didn't know how to react to such a thing at all let alone even know what to say.

After what seemed like forever, just staring at the guy, Roxas pulled himself back with a nervous stutter in his voice that didn't go unnoticed to Axel who merely grinned for a second. Scooting towards the edge of the bench, Roxas then cleared his throat with a few soft coughs to relieve himself of the sudden awkwardness.

"Will you do it or not?" Axel asked again, his stare intensifying with each second he spent waiting on the short blond.

Roxas hugged his sketchbook to his chest, the smooth pages pressing against his jacket and making a crinkling sound with each movement his body made. Biting his lower lip, he looked down nervously at his lap and began to tap the ends of his boots against the pavement under his feet. It wasn't every day that someone would ask him to draw a portrait, and at the moment, though he would never admit it, especially to a person like Axel, he felt flattered by the red head's request.

"Are you even listening to me, Blondie?"

Roxas pouted at him, causing the red head to chuckle lightly and tilt his head. "I heard you the first time."

"Then why didn't you answer me, Roxy?" Axel reached over and pinched the blonde's flushed cheeks which earned him a nice whine and a slap to his arm.

"Quit it! I was just thinking alright!" He snapped. Sighing, Roxas then rubbed his sore cheek before pushing Axel back even more to give himself some much needed space. "Sit still and try not to move."

"O-okay." Settling into a comfortable position, Axel brought his right leg up and crossed it over his left. Stretching his arms out over the back rest of the bench once more, he laid his head back for a second to look up at the sky. "I'm guessing that you really are going to draw me, right?"

"Well duh, why else would I tell you to sit still?" Roxas replied as he rolled his eyes and placed his sketchbook flat down onto his lap.

"I was just making sure, no need to bite me Blondie." Lifting his head up, Axel then turned to face him, his green eyes softening. Watching Roxas' expression suddenly become concentrated, he couldn't resist smiling at him.

"Why do you always have to call me Blon—die…" Roxas had looked up from his paper, ready to spit out another horrible insult but his voice died in his throat once his oceanic blue hues met the gentle countenance on Axel's face. _'Again? What the hell?' _his mind screamed.

Releasing a soft gasp, Roxas swallowed and yanked his gaze away to look back down at his paper. Staring hard at the blank slate in his lap, he clutched his pencil tightly—much too tightly to be more exact. If he were to keep gripping the thin body and applying more pressure he'd probably snap the poor drawing utensil in half if he could.

If there was one thing Roxas hated most about himself right now, it was probably the fact that he was always too self-conscious and shy for his own good. For as long as he could remember, Roxas had always been withdrawn and stoic. He was the very opposite of his bouncy ball of a twin and sometimes he was ashamed of himself because of it. To make up for this flaw, he always found himself acting out—using his aggression and arrogance to mask the introversion that made up his personality. And at this very second, it was definitely one of those acting out moments.

"Something the matter Roxy?"

"N-no! Nothing! And it's Roxas! Not Roxy or Blondie, Roxas!" he stammered nervously. Growling a bit in his throat, he forced himself to look up at the red head again but glared at him this time. "Just—do you have to look at me while I draw? It's really uncomfortable y'know. Look at the sky or the ground, anything at all but not me."

"But I want to look at you." A light bulb seemed to click in the red head's mind. "Look at it this way, I'm hitting two birds with one stone because for one thing, I'm getting my picture drawn, but also I can watch that pretty face of yours at work for as long as I want without getting called out for it. Y'know what I mean, _Roxas_?" He smirked and inched closer to the blond.

Roxas gritted his teeth at the very sight of seeing that obnoxious Cheshire grin. Not wanting Axel to drown in the glow of satisfaction, he gave the red head a rather impish smirk of his own before quickly looking down and sweeping his pencil across his sketchbook. In a matter of seconds he had a prude drawing of Axel done, the red head's cranium being extra-large with jagged triangles for hair protruding wildly in all directions of the enormous circle that represented his head. The expression he drew for Axel was no better either, if anything it reminded him of a pig and he snickered just thinking about it.

Axel's jaw dropped at the very sight of the cartoonish drawing Roxas had created of him. As the blond lifted the book up to give him a better view, he blinked several times before resting his gaze on Roxas himself who had a smug glint radiating off from him.

'_Damn… What a smartass…'_ Axel thought to himself.

"There, it looks just like you—a pig! Great isn't it? Probably my best work yet!" Snapping the sketchbook shut with a little force, Roxas then jumped off the bench onto his feet and dusted his pants.

Before he could walk away though, Axel reached out to quickly grasp him by the wrist and tug him back. "Wait! Roxas!"

"What now?" Roxas looked down at him, his brows kneaded tightly as he frowned.

"I'm sorry, I'll be good this time I promise." Axel's grip tightened around the other's wrist. "Just, don't go."

Another thing he hated about himself was how big of a push over he could be. Sighing heavily, Roxas took a peek at Axel as his frown deepened, the pleading in those green eyes making his heart ache even more so than necessary. _'I'm so going to regret this, I just know it...'_ He groaned in his head. Shutting his eyes, Roxas took a step back until his bottom met the familiar support of the wooden bench. How he could be so easily swayed, especially by Axel of all people he didn't know. And what was probably the worst of it all was that he had only just recently met the guy too.

"You better be sorry… " Roxas muttered loud enough for Axel to hear, earning him a light hearted chuckle from the red head.

Flipping through the pages of his sketchbook in search of another blank slate to use, Roxas' narrowed blue eyes carefully studied Axel in case he did happen to go back on his word. Luckily for him though, Axel just sat there next to him while trying to adjust himself nicely on the bench once more. Seeing the male beam rather sheepishly caused Roxas to shake his head with another long and heavy sigh but nonetheless he set to work anyways.

"Remember, don't look at—"

"Yeah, I learned it the first time, don't look at you while you're drawing, I got it Roxas." Axel smiled at him. Taking one last glance at the blond, he found interest in watching Demyx annoy Sora and Riku quite loudly by the swing set.

Seeing that his request was taken with ease—_finally, _Roxas eyed the red head's structure, taking in the shapes and angles that made him up from the waist up and down. Pressing the lead of his pencil against the blank sheet of paper in front of him, he began with a rough outline—the streaks varying in lengths, size and shades. Over and over, he built up his lines—the image sketchy and unclear. Here and there, he added more lines, indicating an arm, the long fingers, and the untamable mess of flaming red hair along with the folds of Axel's clothes.

From the corner of his eye, Axel watched the blond hard at work. He saw the way the blonde's index and middle finger fidgeted against his pencil, the concentration in his eyes so deep in those oceanic pools of blue that he felt his throat clench and breath stop each time Roxas peered up at him before looking back down at his sketchbook. A true artist at work he thought to himself.

During the minutes that followed, Axel felt a great amount of happiness to see this side of Roxas—the side that was neither crude nor serene but rather it showcased his skills and passion. The focus he had, he could see it in the blonde's eyes, the way they narrowed not to glare but to find the product, the picture that he knew was lost in his sea of lines and shape on the paper.

Still, Axel was actually nervous for once. It was funny since he was a porn star, and typically he didn't have much of a care in the world to do anything that others would find embarrassing like run naked, skinny dip, give a blow job—that sort of thing. To sit here and be drawn though, it felt different compared to being filmed on set and fucking his co-stars. Never before in his life had he ever had someone actually sit there and draw a picture of him. It wasn't like the many photoshoot's he'd experienced before either. Time wise he guessed that drawing and photography had similar approaches but the technique to achieve the art of capturing his image was different. Sure he was still posing but in front of the camera, he was free to move yet stay in his positions for only short amounts of time as opposed to now where he was at a standstill and it was a little nerve wracking with such a hot guy like Roxas being the one to draw him.

Hearing the constant scratching of Roxas' pencil began to make Axel anxious and he flicked his gaze up a little towards the sky. "So, you studied in Twilight Town right?"

"Yeah." Roxas' reply came out rather dry, his mind a little too absorbed with making his drawing as perfect as possible.

"How was it? Y'know, studying art there?" Axel asked him. "Did you like it?"

For a moment, Roxas' pencil stopped moving and he tried to think of a way to respond to the question. "Well it—it was…" his eyes felt heavy all of a sudden, his vision faltering and moving across his drawing as if he were in search of the answer. Slowly shutting them, he really didn't know what else to say. "I guess, it was just fine… I liked it okay, nothing more."

Axel sensed the hesitation in the blonde's voice and the way he stumbled on his words. With worry building up inside of him, he couldn't help but finally turn to face Roxas. "Was the school not what you thought it would be?"

"I told you, it was fine." Roxas said in a firm voice unexpectedly which prompted Axel to drop the subject before something else unpleasant happened.

Roxas put the rest of his attention into the drawing, successfully ignoring Axel for another five minutes or so before leaning back and giving his work a short nod of approval. Scooting closer to Axel, he still made sure to keep his distance from the red head but showed him the finished drawing nonetheless with a smile filled with a fresh dose of appreciation in his own work—not to be conceited of himself or anything of course.

Now seeing the finished sketch, Axel slowly took the book into his hands, his eyes widening at the very sight. It was him, centered perfectly on the page among various lines that helped make up his outline. There was a sense of peace that he found expressed quite nicely on the face of the drawing too. It was almost candid looking even though he knew perfectly well that he was being drawn. Still though, there really were no words to describe how he felt about the drawing and he liked how there was a unique sort of resemblance to him.

"Do you like it? It's okay right?" Roxas questioned after having a long moment of silence just watching Axel stare down at the drawing.

"Wha?" Axel paused, his lips slowly turning into a smile unlike any other Roxas had seen before. "Okay? Is that all you can ask me? Roxas, it's more than just okay! It's incredible! No, scratch that!" He bit his lower lip in a way that made him look odd but it was his thinking face. "Nothing, there are just no words for me to really describe to you how I feel about it, other than the obvious fact that I really, really love the way you drew this."

Roxas' face heated up in seconds, his cheeks bright and red enough to be mistaken for a pair of tomatoes. "I'm glad that, that you like it!" he exclaimed, his gaze swiftly falling down to his lap as his bangs cascaded over his eyes and hid them from the red head's view.

"Is it alright if I can keep it?" Axel asked.

Giving him a hasty nod in response, Roxas kept his eyes glued strictly to his lap for fear of having to face Axel's signature grin and teasing attitude if he were to discover his flushed self. Luckily for him though, the red head was hardly even aware of his state of embarrassment.

Carefully ripping the drawing out from the bindings of the sketchbook, Axel pulled his coat open and placed the picture carefully in the inside pocket that was big enough to accommodate the paper's size. With it tucked safely away, he closed the blonde's sketchbook and handed it back to him which Roxas took hastily. Arching a brow at him, Axel leaned over the short male and pressed his hand against the other's forehead.

"Hey, you feelin' alright there Roxy?" Lifting the blonde's chin up with his other hand, he brought their faces together until they sat there interlocked in somewhat of a staring contest. "Roxas?" his voice close to a whisper this time.

Frozen in his place, Roxas wanted nothing more than to rip himself away from this man but he couldn't—not when those acidic green pools stared at him that way, piercing right through him and reading him, dissecting him carefully in the most intimate way he'd ever seen before.

'_This cannot be happening!'_ his brain screamed, deafening his hearing and filling his mind with alarm and fright.

As if on cue, Sora came running over to the pair, his lips turned up in a pout and his blue eyes narrowed and aimed straight at Axel. Now standing in front of them, his arms crossed and foot tapping relentlessly against the ground he looked about ready to lecture the two, particularly Roxas but there was no telling what course of action he was planning to take. If anything, seeing that hard look on Sora's face, Axel was pretty sure that the short brunette had enough driving force to attack him.

At the very sight of his brother mere inches away from them, Roxas yelped with surprise and gave Axel a nice shove to give himself some much needed room to breathe again. Feeling a little guilty, he pushed himself up off the bench and joined his brother's side much to Sora's relief.

"So what were you guys doing over here might I ask?" the brunette inquired, his ears perked up and attentive, ready especially to hear whatever excuse the red head had to say.

"Nothing, Roxy here was just drawing a picture of me that's all." Axel replied with a quick flash of his grin. "Wanna see?"

Sora glanced over at his twin before looking back down at Axel. "Sure."

With that, Axel retrieved the drawing from his coat pocket and handed it over to the brunette. Scanning the image once or twice, Sora beamed instantly. Looking between Roxas and Axel, he went and threw himself at his twin with a short laugh.

"It looks great Rox! I don't know how you were able to capture that peaceful quality that Axel hardly ever shows but you got it!"

"Th-thanks Sor." Roxas replied sheepishly as he gave his twin a nice pat on the back.

"Thanks for leaving us behind Sora." Riku called out with Demyx walking beside him. Approaching his boyfriend, Riku caught sight of the drawing in his hands before immediately settling his aqua colored eyes on Roxas. "Did you do that?"

"Do what? What'd he do?" Demyx questioned rather excitedly as he tried to look over the silverette's shoulder.

"Roxas drew a picture of Axel, you guys want to see?" Sora asked waving the drawing in his hand this time.

Watching the piece of paper flying in the brunette's hand, Demyx made a grab for it, successfully stealing the drawing right from between Sora's fingers. "Oh hey look! Riku! Come and see!"

The two boys huddled close together, looking down at the drawing that Roxas made. Riku stroked his chin; blinking several times he gave a nice 'hm' and glanced at Demyx who proceeded to stare with awe struck eyes.

"This is awesome!" The mullet haired male cried out eagerly, causing Roxas to jump back a little from his sudden burst of excitement.

"It has a nice touch to it, though I have to say, you've got quite a way of capturing Axel looking like this. Honestly, it's probably one out of ten that he can look so refreshed and not sex crazed. Am I right Sor?" Riku turned to the short brunette.

Nodding his head in agreement, Sora came up behind the silverette to wrap his arms around the other's waist. "I pretty much said the same thing too, minus the sex crazed part but I definitely agree!"

"Sex crazed? Oh come on you guys!" Axel whined, his lips forming a pout.

"Axel, it's kind of true I mean you are a—"

"I know Riku, I know! No need to remind me. Jeez, there's really no shame to being a porn star! Right Dem?" Axel looked to his flamboyant friend for help, unfortunately though he was still distracted by the drawing in his hands.

"Need I remind you that I hate my job Fire Crotch. But, I keep it anyways because it pays the bills nicely and I get to stay close to Sora." The silverette waved a finger in the air.

"Pft, well unlike you I like my job. And that's Mr. Fire Crotch to you!" Axel said as he finally lifted himself off the bench.

"There's really nothing wrong with being a porn star." Demyx wore a rather serious face. Handing the drawing back to Axel, he took a deep breath.

"You have any way of backing up your claim Demyx?" Roxas suddenly asked. The entire time he'd been silent but now listening in on where the conversation was headed to he grew curious.

"I don't know what to tell you, except that it's like any other occupation. You either like it or you don't. Personally, I like this job, if I didn't have it I would have never met so many great people or be where I am today. Sure, others may have a problem with it but that's their opinion and it doesn't bother me that they look down on my line of work because it's my concern, not theirs." The seriousness in the blonde's voice was evident and strong, making Roxas think a little bit more carefully on the topic.

"I don't usually top, I'm more of a bottom. But anyways, what I'm trying to say is that what I like about being a porn star is probably being able to see this side of people that they don't normally show to others. Sometimes, it's who they actually are—which can be surprising. The people I work with, they're real. They may not all open up at first, but after a while we've somehow managed to become a family."

Giving his friend an approving nod, Axel wrapped an arm around the Demyx's shoulder. "Now that's what I'm talking about."

"What's your opinion Axel?" Roxas asked him as he handed his sketchbook off to Sora. "Is it the same as Demyx?"

"Heh, pretty much Roxy. I'll just add that sure, the business is something to be misunderstood but personally I like a good fuck and getting paid to do it is even better."

"The way you worded it is so—so vulgar…" Roxas glowered at him. "Demyx's explanation was ten times better than yours could ever hope to be."

"You've got that right." Riku commented.

"You don't have any problems about us being in the porn business, do you?" Demyx continued to hold an air of seriousness, the weight of it pushing down especially on Roxas now that he was being put out in the spotlight.

"Well I don't!" Sora raised his hand which Riku quickly made him put back down.

"You're already working at a porn studio you idiot." Axel's brow twitched.

"Oh yeah, right…"

"Well? Roxas?"

The shorter blond thought long and hard. Remembering his reaction last night he almost wanted to say yes but the more he thought about it, like _really_ thought_, _it didn't seem as bad much to his surprise. "I—," Glancing around the group, Roxas realized in that moment, that he wouldn't have even bothered asking them in the first place. Things like those, just never occurred to him. Whatever the case, he at least concluded that he didn't care as long as they were safe he guessed. "No, I don't mind. In fact, I think it's pretty cool!"

"Y-you do!" They all exclaimed, surprised washed on their faces as they glanced amongst each other while trying to come up with a way to voice out a reply.

"Yeah, it makes this growing friendship of ours interesting if you think about it." With that said, Roxas crossed his arms over his torso with a smirk.

Realizing the meaning behind those words, Axel let his arm fall from around Demyx's shoulders and he approached the younger Strife twin with a new light of admiration. "You always surprise me in the weirdest of ways, you know that Roxy?" He said as he slipped his hand around the blonde's waist. Bringing their bodies close, he looked straight into the boy's eyes. "You want to know something? Another reason why I like my job is because I know just how to pleasure my partner." Axel purred into his ear, resulting in Roxas shivering in his arms.

Trying to push the taller male away proved unsuccessful and it made his spine quiver the closer Axel leaned towards him, his breath prickling hotly against his neck. Feeling the hand on his back inch lower, Roxas gasped softly and he pressed his hands as hard as he could onto the red head's chest to shove him back. "S-stop it!"

"Axel you perv!" Sora immediately jumped into action by ramming his small body right into Axel's back.

Though shorter and smaller in build, the brunette was still a force to be reckoned with and he managed to send the taller male flying forward with a startled yelp. Unfortunately Sora had forgotten that his poor twin was still wrapped up in Axel's arms, meaning both him and the red head fell down with Roxas taking the full force of the impact.

"Sora look what you did!" Demyx pointed at the two boys lying sprawled on the ground, poor Roxas lying flat on his back with Axel right on top of him.

"Smooth." Riku added as he scratched his head and gave out an exaggerated sigh.

"Crap! Roxas! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Sora cried, his feet hopping back and forth before finally making a run around to check and see if his twin was alright. "Roxas! Are you al—right?..." slowly the brunette's eyes widened, his voice dying in his throat at the sight he saw in front of him as he looked down at the pair.

"Are they okay? Axel! Roxas! Say something!" Demyx exclaimed. Making it over to Sora's side, he kneeled down and was about ready to pull the red head off the small blond until he too was dumb struck and frozen in his place.

"Hey! What's going on? Pull the idiot off would you!" Riku shouted but once he saw the same thing, he blinked, giving them a low whistle. "Well, this is a sight for sore eyes huh?"

There on the pavement, Axel and Roxas laid on the ground pressed against each other with their lips locked into the most awkward kiss the blond had ever experienced in his life. No, it could hardly be called a kiss. More like, just lips touching after taking a painful fall onto his back, or so Roxas wanted to believe. Even so, he was surprised by the way Axel was looking at him with such astonishment. Those green eyes of his were staring down at him just as widely as his and they were filled with a bewilderment that the blond would have never expected from a guy like Axel. To further bring the blond even more discomfort, Axel's eyelids slow began to slip close and he pushed his lips against Roxas.

Body stiffening instantly, Roxas was at a loss on what to do next. Too much was running through his mind, it made Roxas dizzy just trying to calm himself down. Should he respond and kiss the guy back he wondered, or push him off, scream, hyperventilate and beat the shit out of him? Nothing was coming to mind unfortunately, and he was stuck, like literally stuck and it was highly discomforting, especially on his back. Suddenly remembering his situation, the feel of Axel moving his lips against his brought Roxas back and he gave out a soft whimper in his mouth. No, he refused to give up and let this guy win he finally concluded.

Trying to move his leg, Roxas was about ready to start thrashing around if it weren't for Sora coming to his senses at last and rescuing him _again_. Before anyone could blink, the brunette grabbed Axel by the back of his coat, using the bulk of his strength he managed to successfully yank the red head off of his twin before throwing the guy down next to Roxas.

Immediately, Demyx rushed to the dazed blonde's side, pushing Axel clear out of his way in the process to Riku's enjoyment of watching the guy get thrown around like some rag doll. "Roxas! Are you alright? Please say something you adorable bundle of innocence!" he yelled as he shook the blond roughly.

"Dem, give him some room to breathe. I'm sure he's fine." Riku kneeled beside them and waved a hand in front of Roxas' face. "Hey Roxas, snap out of it."

"Move! Get out of my way!" Sora abruptly wedged himself between Riku and Demyx. "Roxas!" he began shouting.

"H-huh?" Roxas looked around at everyone. "Wha?"

"Roxas!" Sora cried before throwing his arms tightly around his twin.

"He still looks a little shocked. What do you think?" Demyx whispered to Riku but the silverette merely shrugged his shoulders.

"Thanks for all the love you guys!" Axel laid on the ground, an annoyed expression on his face.

"Axel…" Sora hissed, causing the red head to quickly scramble to his feet. "You're finished!" Releasing Roxas from his bone crushing hug, the brunette managed to work his way around Demyx and Riku over to Axel. Gripping him by the front of his jacket, Sora looked just about ready to kill.

"Whoa! I'm sorry! It was an accident Sora!"

"Accident? Yeah sure it was! You weren't the one watching his twin looking scared and shocked while some guy who fell on top of him thought it would be okay to just kiss him!"

"Sora! Cool it!" Riku went to try and pry his boyfriend's fists off of Axel's coat. "Just breathe! It wasn't his fault he fell down on Roxas in the first place. You were the one that pushed him remember?"

"Thank you!" Axel aspirated as he tried to unclench Sora's fingers from his jacket as well.

"Shut up Axel, you still kissed him." Riku glared, causing Axel to wince.

Watching the scene unfold, Demyx took the opportunity to join Roxas who was still silent and glued to his place on the ground. "Hey, you haven't said a single word yet. You okay little dude?"

Slowly meeting the taller blonde's gaze, Roxas nodded. "I-I'm okay, just still a little surprised… that's all."

"It's understandable." Demyx ruffled the other boy's hair. "You know, I've never seen Sora so pissed off before."

"Yeah, it's rare actually but he gets mad just the same as anyone else. He isn't all sunshine and smiles, y'know?"

"That's for sure!"

The squabble ended up with Axel getting a nice kick in the shin from Sora who wouldn't allow the red head to escape unscathed. With the fight broken up, Demyx somehow managed to get Roxas back up onto his feet but the short blond refused all conversations with anyone else except Demyx. Sora, feeling rejected could understand since it was his fault that the whole mess started anyways but nonetheless he was still unhappy by Roxas' treatment of him.

Limping a little with his hands shoved nice and deep into his coat pockets, Axel tried to apologize for his actions. "Look, Roxas I'm—"

"Save it." Roxas cut him off.

"Hey! I'm trying to tell you sorry!"

"Axel give the guy some space would ya?" Demyx frowned at his friend.

Seeing that the air was thick with tension, Riku cleared his throat. "Ahem, I think it's about time we all head home. Don't you think so too Sora?"

"Yeah." The brunette agreed.

Gathering his twin brother, Sora hugged Riku, promising him that they'd hang out for lunch tomorrow at work which seemed to give the silverette a peace of mind at the very least. Giving Demyx and Axel a short wave, the Strife twins headed back towards their motorcycle in silence.

Seeing that the two were finally gone and out of sight, Riku spun around with a fierce glare. "Seriously, what's wrong with you Axel?"

"Yeah!" Demyx joined in with his hands at his hips and looking just as fearsome.

"What the hell you guys?"

"No excuses Axel. You're not getting out of this one."

"Agreed!" Demyx stepped forward to punish the red head by yanking on his ear. "Next time you see poor Roxas you better apologize!"

"I did! Or at least I tried to—Ow! Dem stop! That fuckin' hurts!"

"No! I'm not gonna stop!" Pulling a little harder on Axel's ear, he had the red head close to begging now.

"You listen, and you listen well." Riku stood in front of his red haired friend with his arms crossed. "The next time you see both Sora and Roxas, you better beg for their forgiveness. Crawl on the ground if you have to but you better apologize! Do I make myself clear?" he said, his hand shooting out grip the collar of Axel's jacket as he brought him down to his level.

"Crystal clear." Axel replied with a short glare back.

"This may come out as random but, how did it feel?" Demyx asked, his lips forming a slight frown to them.

"What do you mean Dem?"

"You know, kissing Roxas?"

"Are you serious!" Riku slapped an open hand on his temple as his head shook with embarrassment from Demyx's ridiculous question.

"Well yeah, I'm serious! Axel?"

"Honestly…" Axel stepped back, his features softening as he remembered the feel of Roxas 'soft lips against his own. "He didn't kiss me back but, it felt like I died and went to heaven."

"Riku, look at that dreamy glow in Axel's eyes." Demyx snickered. "I've never seen him act this way before."

"Yeah, me too. It kind of worries me."

-x-x-x-

The ride home felt silent, more so than usual and it really bothered Sora to no end. Honestly he was still a little steamed over about what had happened earlier. If Riku hadn't stopped him, he'd have probably punched Axel which was seriously out of his character but when it came down to his twin brother he really was an uncontrollable force. When the pair reached the house and got Fenrir into the garage, Sora stopped Roxas from proceeding inside.

Gripping Roxas by the shoulder a little, Sora stared hard. "You alright?" the question wasn't necessarily what he wanted to say, and he cursed himself for even thinking of something as lame as that of all things.

"Why does everyone have to keep asking me that?" Roxas muttered. "Look I'm okay! It's not like the kiss poisoned me or anything!"

Sora flinched back. "Sorry, I-I just didn't know what else to say."

"No." He sighed. "I'm sorry for snapping at you…. I know you're just trying to help." Roxas tried to smile but it did very little to help change the mood.

"Look, Roxas um…" Sora paused, trying to collect himself and choose the right words. "I don't think that you should get too involved with Axel."

"A little protective aren't we Sora?" he teased without meaning to.

"I guess you can say that Rox. But I just think that with our current situation, things will get harder if somehow Axel gets involved and I don't want to see you get hurt anymore, that's all." Sora urged, the worry in his voice so heavy that it could not go unnoticed.

"I can only half agree with you Sor." Roxas bit into his lower lip. He didn't like this conversation at all. "But what about Riku? You and him? You guys are together now aren't you?"

"Yeah, we're together but that's different Roxas. He's not like Axel."

"Yeah sure, so what if he's not, he's involved with us now just the same. No more okay? I don't want to be a part of your circle of friends." Roxas sighed and rubbed his temple. _'Maybe that was a little too much'_ he wondered.

"But Roxas—No, don't shut me out! I wasn't telling you to cut ties with Axel! Just don't date him, you idiot!"

"I've got the message okay!" Roxas screamed this time before running out of the garage into the house and up to his room.

There was nothing Sora could do to stop him and he didn't even try. Feeling defeated, the brunette somehow brought himself to follow after his twin as far as the living room but didn't dare go any further, especially upstairs.

With his back pressed up against the wooden surface of his bedroom door, Roxas stared blankly at the arrangement of his room before sinking down to his feet. Today had just been crazy, too crazy really, in just this one day and he still couldn't quite grasp the extent of how much had happened. Slowly lifting his right hand up to his face, Roxas touched his lips, stroking the skin softly as the memory of the kiss from Axel invaded his brain. He didn't even get to put up a fight, that was probably the worst and it shocked him too. Swallowing hard, he suddenly felt guilt rising up in the pit of his stomach, the ache in his chest doubling over as well.

"I liked it…" he suddenly realized, the words having a choking effect as they escaped from his mouth. Shutting his blue eyes tightly, he let his hand fall to grip the dog tag around his neck and he clutched it almost desperately. "I can't believe this…"

* * *

**A/N:** I'm going to be honest, I had a really hard time developing the dialogue in the middle when the rest of the gang jumped in ): I do not know anything about how the pornography business works x_x I'm just making this up as I go and referring back to Miu Otsuki's manga a lot!

Which reminds me, I was at Powell's City of Books three weeks ago after school and stumbled upon a copy of "Calling" on the yaoi shelf in the manga section, which is the very inspiration for this story and I bought it without a second thought! Hahahaha! It's mine, all mine! :D (sorry about that little brag story but I couldn't resist).

Also, does it feel like it's going too fast? I'm having the weirdest argument with myself over this. Like I know what I'm doing and I know what I have planned but the jump in Axel and Roxas' developing relationship is intense, especially with the way I'm writing it x_x Okay, I started the beginning of the story on a Friday night, they met Saturday and now it's a Sunday. Whoa…. Okay then! –shot-

This is totally random too but, while writing Axel's dialogue and description, Miroku from Inu Yasha popped up into my head all of a sudden…. Whoaaa….

Well I'm rambling a lot now, I'm sorry! D: Well, thought's? Question's? I'm just a PM away! Next chapter will probably be uploaded next week! I'm trying to make this as weekly as possible. Anyways, thank you for taking the time to read (:


	5. Chapter 5

Beneath the Surface

Chapter 5

**Music: **"Height" by Naru

**A/N: **I'm late, very late I know but it's because I just recently bought myself a Bamboo Wacom Tablet and I haven't put it down since! I've been doodling so much that I just lose track of time! It's ridiculous! I'm learning so much now just messing around on Paint Tool Sai. I have no regrets about making my purchase of this wonderful tool (:

But also, because it's summer I was vacationing a lot in June with my cousins so I never really got a chance to sit down properly and write until now.

Also, I'll be moving my story to my new tumblr dedicated solely to my fanfiction as well since the purge has been going on and it's not looking very pretty ): I'll still upload it to of course! But I'd rather be safe than sorry if my story ends up being threatened _ I've also joined so I'll be posting there as well in due time. My tumblr and dreamwidth though are still under some maintenance, but they can be found on my profile and you're welcome to add them and follow me. Thank you!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters! D; they belong to Square Enix!

-x-x-x-

Monday morning in the Strife household was relatively quiet until the sound of a sizzling skillet on the stove in the kitchen broke the eerie silence.

Spreading the butter around the surface of the pan, Roxas stood in front of the stove with a firm stare, indicating his determination on the task at hand, which was cooking breakfast.

After coming home from lunch and the park the other day, Roxas had resorted to locking himself up in his room. The confrontation in the garage with Sora was almost too much for him to handle, especially since it reminded him of things he felt should be better left unsaid. How he had forgotten about those insecurities he harbored was odd to say the least, and that was what terrified him. What was it again? Two days already and Axel of all people was getting under his skin much faster than anyone else aside from his college nemesis Seifer Almasy but that was a different story.

Thinking about Seifer now, Roxas shivered at the thought, feeling quite relieved that the guy was a resident of Twilight Town and nowhere near Radiant Garden. Shaking his head, Roxas didn't even want to think about such discouraging things, especially this early in the morning of all times.

Dropping three strips of bacon into the pan, Roxas stepped back and gave himself an arm's length away as the butter and fat began to pop and fly. He didn't have dinner last night since he locked himself up in his room, and knowing Sora he was quite sure the brunette didn't indulge himself with a single crumb either. The things he said yesterday were harsh, and he did regret them if only a little.

Biting his lip, Roxas hoped to somehow make up with his twin, and making the two of them breakfast was the first step to apologizing in his book. As the saying goes, '_A way to a man's heart is through his stomach_.' Or at least he was sure that's how it went.

The delicious aroma of butter, herbs and bacon slowly began to rouse Sora from his slumber upstairs and he managed to wake up before the sound of his alarm clock much to his surprise. The soft gurgling in his empty stomach proved to be the final judge in getting him out of bed and the brunette soon found himself downstairs in the kitchen standing behind Roxas.

Roxas was alerted by his twin's arrival when Sora yawned loud enough for him to hear. Glancing over his shoulder, the blond gave the older twin a quick nod. "Good morning Sor." He said quietly before returning his attention to the bacon.

"Morning Rox." Sora smiled sadly, remembering the events of yesterday. "Rox I'm really—"

"I'm sorry Sora." Roxas cut him off before he could finish his sentence.

"But—"

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said any of that stuff. I was just, I don't know, shaken up… I didn't mean any of it, well at least half of it…"

Slowly, Sora willed himself forward, his steps heavy as he came up closer behind Roxas and wrapped his arms tightly around his twin's small waist. "I should be sorry for telling you not to get involved with Axel… I just went insane when he kissed you. When it comes to you Roxas, I can't help but be protective, do you understand?"

Turning the heat down on the stove with his free hand, Roxas stared straight at the wall. "I know where you're coming from Sor, I understand, I mean I really, really do." he replied as the smallest of smiles began to lift at his lips.

"I'm probably making it worse by treating you like a kid this way huh?" Sora pressed his face into the other's back, releasing a forced chuckle.

"You're just doing your job as the older brother of the house now, that's all. Though I must admit, you kind of are treating me like a kid."

"I guess." Sora pouted.

Turning around to face the brunette, Roxas embraced the older twin. "Look, I know you're worried. I understand perfectly. But I can take care of myself, I can fight my own battles now. Come on, I'm a big boy."

Biting his lower lip, Sora hesitantly returned the hug. The strength in his embrace though, was tighter in comparison to his blond haired brother, prompting the younger of the two to respond in the same way.

"It's still hard to—"

"You don't need to say it." Roxas said suddenly, successfully stopping Sora from finishing his sentence once agian, "Please don't." his voice quivering slightly.

Sora stared down at him, completely stunned by his twin's reaction. He could see the desperation in the other's eyes, begging—pleading him not to bring the subject to light.

"Okay, I won't."

"Thank you."

"Yeah, for now at least." Sora murmured but loud enough for Roxas to hear.

"Look please just—"

"He's coming home soon you know." Sora exclaimed. Realizing his abrupt statement he regretted it instantly upon seeing his twin's eyes widen with surprise and fear. "I—Roxas I'm sorry. Hear me out, please. W-we knew, we both knew by the time you finished school he'd come back. I—we don't know when exactly but we know that it's supposed to be around this time."

Roxas slowly looked down, uncertain of how to respond to his brother. Inside his chest he could feel his heart beating, it was thundering in his ears and suffocating him all at the same time.

Realizing that it was too late to take back anything that he said, Sora sighed heavily. "Let's just put this conversation off for a while." Turning his gaze away from the distraught expression on the blonde's face, Sora bit down on his quivering lip. "H-how about this? Why don't we call cousin Namine up? I bet Kai hasn't told her your back yet! She'll be surprised!" the brunette quickly said in a hurry as he ran out of the kitchen area to grab the house phone.

Though it was too early for their dear cousin to be up, Namine surprisingly picked up the line and not a moment later Sora miraculously talked her into meeting up and spending time with Roxas while he would be attending work for the day.

-x-x-x-

The rest of the morning was spent in relative silence, breakfast feeling much colder than Roxas would have liked and at this point he felt as though he was back down to square one. Sora felt no different either and it irked him greatly to have caused such distress in their household so soon after finally having his twin back home.

Because Sora didn't own a car despite having a driver's license, Roxas took the liberty of being the brunette's chauffer. There was no way of making great conversation as the twins left their house at nine in the morning. Riding on a top notch bike like Fenrir, Roxas brought Sora to the front of the filming studio in record time.

Stationed in the parking lot, Fenrir continued to purr as Roxas waited for his twin to disembark off the motorcycle. Up ahead, apparently waiting for his brother was none other than the silverette Riku himself, the older male watching the two of them intently and with great patience from what Roxas was able to see. Giving his twin a light nudge as a signal that it was time to let go, the blond was surprised to feel Sora's grip tighten suddenly around his waist.

"Sor, come on Riku is waiting for you."

The brunette merely shook his head in response. His brown spikes swaying with each shake of his head.

"Sora don't do this. Don't be stubborn. You have work, and I have to meet up with Namine soon since you're the one that set up our hang out."

After a few moments longer, the older twin gave the blond a tight squeeze before finally swinging his legs off of the bike. With his deep blue eyes down casted from the other's view, Sora stood there sadly and it made Roxas feel an unbelievable amount of guilt. Without thinking, the younger got off of his bike too—only to embrace his twin tightly.

"You're supposed to be the older brother here you know?"

"I-I know! But Roxas I'm sorry! I really am!"

"Sora, you said that we'll talk about it later and we will but please I don't want to think about it, especially not now. Just go to work, have fun but not too much fun. We'll discuss it all later."

Roxas attempted a smile but failed miserably. Sora couldn't give his twin any better of a smile either, leaving the two brothers to hug each other tightly one last time before the blond got back on his motorcycle and drove away.

Riku walked the short distance from the front door to the parking lot over to his boyfriend after watching the younger twin depart. Having witnessed the display of affection between the two boys, he felt a little worried about the mental state they were in—considering the emotionally trauma Axel had put them through the other day.

"Good morning, where has my ball of sunshine gone today?"

"O-oh, hey there Riku." Sora replied softly.

Frowning, the older boy wrapped an arm around the brunette's shoulder. "You didn't have a very good morning did you?"

Shaking his head no, Sora sighed. "It's my fault he's like this. I said some really insensitive things to him. He was making breakfast for us this morning to apologize to me but I went and ruined it by bringing up a no, no topic."

"No, no topic? Uhh."

"Don't ask Ku."

"I won't it's just—well why won't you forget about it? Since he made you breakfast why won't you make him dinner?"

"Dinner? Well, that's only if—argh! Okay I'll do it!" Sora suddenly exclaimed.

"Well that was fast?" Riku chuckled, pressing his lips against the shorter male's forehead. "Just make his favorite dish and I'm sure everything will go back to normal."

"Y-yeah.. I hope so." Sora paused, his lips forming a frown. "We're still going to have lunch together, right?"

"Are you kidding me? Of course! What made you think that we wouldn't?" the silverette blinked.

"Well you know, after this morning and all… b-but forget that!" Sora quickly laughed it off without any explanation, taking his boyfriend by complete surprise.

Pretty soon, the parking lot was beginning to fill with cars, employees of the studio, and among them were of course Demyx and Axel. The two friends usually carpooled together, but today Axel decided to drive his beloved red truck to work, mostly because he didn't want another earful of his mullet haired friend lecturing him about the events of yesterday.

"Good morning Sora! Riku! Axel…" Demyx emphasized slowly as his eyes trailed towards the yawning red head.

Riku's eye's narrowed, and the tension doubled the moment Axel entered Sora's range of vision. Then and there the tall male was pushed right into the spotlight, fear creeping into his being the longer the brunette's blue eye's glared up at him. It was not a great way to start out his morning at work, and the more he stalled, the more Axel knew the day wouldn't end very pretty for him at all until he apologized like he had promised himself to do.

"Sora, look about yesterday, I'm sorry I kissed Roxas. I honestly didn't mean to and I'd be lying if I said I didn't like it but—you know that I didn't have any plans to do anything even close to that other than to just rile him up and tease him." Axel confessed with a heavy sigh.

"I know."

"No you don't I mean—wait? You do?" Axel asked.

"Yeah? It's partially my fault it happened in the first place. If I hadn't overacted the way I did I wouldn't have pushed you and all of this weird drama wouldn't have even started in the first place."

"Oh god, I thought that you would still be really mad at me. I was almost ready to get down on my knees and beg like Riku said I should do." Axel said breathlessly, relief simmered nicely into his voice.

"Beg?" Sora quickly turned to look up at the silverette who shrugged his shoulders in reply. Smiling a little, the brunette placed his hands on his hips. "Well, I honestly wouldn't mind a little plea of forgiveness from you on your knees." He snickered.

Glaring, Axel crossed his arms, "Now I see just how much of a devil you really are Sora." Looking between Riku and the said boy, Axel pointed his nose to the air. "You two were made for each other."

"I'll say!" Demyx giggled. "Seriously though, a cold, serious loner like Riku and this bubbly ball of… well everything under the sun is the very definition of opposites attracting!" the blond pointed, causing Sora to blush.

Riku on the other hand just growled in his annoyance. "How the hell did we just go from Axel apologizing to analyzing my relationship with Sora?"

"I don't know! Ask Axel!" Demyx quickly said before running towards the studio building laughing. If he had stayed any longer, the blond would have met the end of the silverette's fist but with his skill of detecting danger, Demyx escaped the line of fire but it could not be said the same for his red headed friend unfortunately.

-x-x-x-

"Roxas! It's so good to see you again!" Namine threw her arms around her cousin's shoulders, successfully trapping him in a bear crashing hug. "I haven't seen you in so long dear cousin, how was studying in Twilight Town?"

"H-hey there Nam—" Roxas chuckled, patting the small girls back, he gave out a rough dry cough. "N-nam! Please, I can't breathe.."

Realizing the blue and gray accumulating in the boy's face, Namine giggled before releasing her poor cousin. "Sorry, I just missed you so much. Guess I didn't know my own strength huh?"

"You guess?" he joked, his fingers running up and down the front of his shirt to smooth out the wrinkles.

"Yeah." Moving a stray hair behind her ear, she smiled warmly. "Really though, it is good to see you again Roxas."

"Mm. It's great to see you too."

"Well, seeing that it is still early how about a walk around the town? You know, to familiarize yourself with the place again?"

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea Nam."

"Good!" Namine replied happily as she linked their arms together. "I wasn't going to give you any other choice."

Roxas allowed the girl to cling tightly to his arm. Usually he was uncomfortable with such abrupt physical contact but this was Namine and his dear cousin (besides his brother Sora) was always the exception. Soon enough the two wandered about the central market, passing urban shops and a few small galleries. The particular area they were in was considered the pearl of their lustrous city, where art and high society flourished.

Namine lived in this part of the downtown in Radiant Garden, her father Luxord being the owner of the world renowned Fatalité gallery just on Balamb Avenue. She like Roxas, was an artist but her tastes were far from what her cousin was interested in. She was a fine arts painter while Roxas was more of an illustrator, a designer with a more contemporary viewpoint so to speak. Yet despite their differences, they still shared many conversations related to art—finding similarities, common ground and wholehearted debates about whatever roused the topic.

Not long after drifting through the streets, Namine led the pair to a cozy café called Paopu Bakery. There was an ongoing theme of the wondrous star shaped fruit found only on the Destiny Islands inside the little shop. Everywhere Roxas looked it seemed as though the star was a common sight; being seen on the menus, the windows, the ceiling and of course in the food itself, but he guessed it made sense since the bakery was named after it.

"What do you think Roxas? It's cute, right?"

"Yeah, very cute." He replied. _'Maybe a little too cute don't you think?'_ he wondered.

Taking two menu's from the counter, Namine handed one off to him and dragged the boy to the side so that they could stay out of the line but also begin reading on what to order. Eventually, Roxas settled on a nice chicken salad sandwich with potato salad while Namine chose a tuna sandwich with chickpea salad. It didn't take long for their meals to arrive once they found a table next to the window and they enjoyed the colorful food to the fullest. Taking a bite here and a small talk there, lunch felt relatively calm for Roxas and he liked it. Since coming home just a few days ago, not once had he been able to actually kick back and relax like this until now. Already, drama was knocking on his door and he dreaded it more than anything. But for the moment, his thoughts were on what was happening right now, which was hanging out with his cousin Namine.

"You know, there is a legend of the paopu fruit." Namine pointed at him with the end of her fork.

Catching his attention as he took a bite out of his sandwich, Roxas tilted his head. Chewing, he rolled his eyes which the blond girl across from him glared at.

"On Destiny Island, they say that if two people share a paopu fruit, their destinies become intertwined. And they'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what."

The dreamy look on his cousin's face made Roxas shiver, "Jeez, that sounds like a load of—"

"Be quiet Roxas! It's romantic! Don't ruin the moment here…"

"Sorry Nam." Roxas snickered.

Namine huffed, "Whatever, fine be that way." Moving her salad around with her fork, she stabbed her lettuce leaf, "You know, after Sora called this morning, I told father about you finally being home and he asked me to tell you if you would like a gallery space at Lucky Dice."

Roxas blinked, the words processing slowly in his brain. _'A gallery space'_ he thought, _'Fatalité!'_ the blonde's blue eyes grew like saucers, his smile just as wide as he scrambled out of his chair to walk around the table and pull the girl across from him into his arms.

"Yes! Yes! Please I'd love the space! Oh my god! Namine this is, this is—"

"G-goodness Roxas!" Namine laughed, her cheeks turning pink with embarrassment now that half of the prospectors around them in the bakery were staring.

"You have no idea how happy I am right now!"

"I can tell." The blond girl patted her cousin on the head. "You should get back to your seat Roxas."

Doing as he was told, the fire slowly dimmed but the excitement was still alive in him. "But really though? Uncle Luxord wants my work up? I-I don't even have a series unless you count this one I did in order to graduate but it's not enough I don't think. Umm… Okay, what's the deal exactly?"

"Whoa there, let's not get in over our head's now Rox." Namine cleared her throat. "Well, basically father did have that space occupied but then a bunch of deadlines and dates got a little messed up between him and the artist, so the artist had no choice but to drop his slot. Even though there is a wait list, father decided to shrug it off once I told him you were back from school."

"Wait, so he's not interested in my work?" Roxas slowly began to frown. "I'm just a substitute then huh?"

"No! No! Roxas, no! Don't think like that! This is an opportunity!" Namine slammed an open palm against the table several times, causing their tableware to shake with each impact of her hand. "Father knows he's successful, god lord I'm making him sound arrogant but the point is he doesn't personally send out invitations to show at his gallery unless it's for good reason! After you left and I began studying at the Radiant Garden Institution of Art, father started a partnership with my school where each month he allowed a minimum of two students to showcase their work at his gallery. Basically, anyone could sign up but the catch was that father got to personally pick who and what got the space."

"Okay, and how exactly do I fit in all of this if your dad, my uncle gets to pick what goes in show?"

"I told you before! There is a wait list but father decided, and these are his words exactly, 'Well, to hell with the wait list!'" Namine said, imitating her father's deep British accent as best she could. "Roxas, you're not a substitute, we're family. Even though we have yet to see your work, father said that he'd allow whatever it is you come up with to go up in show. This is your pretty much your chance you twit! He's helping you with getting your first big break!"

It took a while for Roxas to really understand the extent of his cousin's explanation. After much mental thought and lecturing from Namine, he finally agreed much to the girl's relief.

"By the way, this Friday father wants you and Sora to come over for dinner and you have until then to figure out what your theme for the space should be. And don't worry, I'll take you straight over to the gallery after we finish up here." Namine explained as she took her fork and stole a potato from his plate.

"Thanks Nam. Man, its only lunch time and already this has become the highlight of my day!"

-x-x-x-

"And cut!"

"Finally!" Axel cried as he pushed himself off the desk and away from the disheveled looking male lying sprawled on the wooden surface of the table. Watching his co-star pant heavily from their previous activities, Axel frowned and carefully lifted the other male up onto his feet. "Hey, you okay there?"

"Y-yes, I'm fine Axel." The slate haired male replied, his cheeks still flushed as he began to zip up his pants and button up his shirt again. "I need a shower…" he murmured, his voice trailing as he carried himself off towards the dressing rooms.

"Zexion! I'm sorry if I was a little rough!"

His co-star didn't look back, but waved him off with a hand in the air—his own way of saying, in Zexion language, _'it's all cool.'_

Demyx approached the red head, his face completely blank yet Axel could see all he needed to know in the blonde's sea green eyes.

"How'd it go with Zexion?"

"Good, I may have been a little too rough but he said he was fine."

"Oh, that's good."

Demyx's gaze followed towards the closed doors of the dressing room, his chest hurting and aching for the said male. His infatuation with the slate haired actor could be seen from a mile away, and if anything he was experiencing a situation no different from what Riku had.

Axel felt pretty bad about screwing Zexion senseless now that he could see his friend's puppy dog eyes begin to lower to the ground. Rubbing the back of his neck, he bit his lip and began contemplating on what to do.

After about a minute or so of silence between the two friends, it finally hit Axel. "Yo! Demy!"

"Yes Ax?" the blond replied solemnly.

"I almost forgot to tell you that when I met Xemnas this morning before filming that he needs to talk to over dinner."

"Dinner? Well, why won't I just go in and talk to him now?" Demyx asked.

"No! He said specifically at dinner, 6pm at Ratatouille!"

"Ratatouille! B-but aw come on… he better be paying for my meal too then…" he grumbled.

"Right, well I need to hit the showers myself before I have lunch. I really hate feeling all sweaty and musky while I eat."

"Ew, too much information there Fire Crotch."

"Yeah, yeah whatever, you know you'd say the same thing."

Walking towards the dressing rooms himself, Axel opened the door to find Zexion already finished with his shower. Whistling away, he went to his bag left on his chair and began rummaging through it in search of his clean clothes.

"Hey there Sexy Zexy!"

"It's Zexion."

"Sorry, well before I forget I have a message for you from Xemnas." Axel said as he hid a knowing smile.

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"Xemnas needs you to meet him at 6pm tonight for dinner at Ratatouille. He said something about work and having you do something or other. I forgot the rest but he can tell you about it himself."

"I see…"

From the way Zexion looked down in thought, Axel almost felt as though he may be caught by the elusive male. The red head was well aware of how clever he was, but Zexion was different—he moved in a way that frightened Axel to an extent but it was mostly because of how unsociable the slate haired male came off as.

After a long time of thinking, or so Axel thought, Zexion finally looked up at him and gave the red head his reply, "I'll be there."

"Awesome! 6pm sharp Zexy!"

"Zexion." He corrected.

"Right, sorry."

Giving him a nod, Zexion quickly finished pulling on his clothes and left Axel to his own devices. Finally alone, the red head gave out a great sigh of relief, having succeeded in reeling in his co-star. Pulling out his cellphone, he dialed a number he knew all too well—a number he knew like the back of his hand.

In less than two rings, the line was picked up, "Hello Axel, what is it?" the voice on the other end asked.

"Yo! How's it going bro!"

"Cut the crap slick, seriously what do you want now? I'm busy."

"Calm down! Jeez, is that any way to speak to your little brother?" the red head joked.

"Axel, I swear…" the voice trailed off.

"Reno! Okay, sorry but I need a favor."

"Yeah? Like what? Did you get in trouble again? Axel, I cannot—"

"No! No!" Axel exclaimed. "Alright look, how do you feel about helping me play cupid tonight?"

"Okay, you've got my full attention… I'm listening now." Reno smirked mischievously on his end of the line.

"Great! Now here's the deal..."

-x-x-x-

Roxas arrived in front of the studio just as Sora and Riku exited out through the front doors together. Killing the engine, the blond took a deep breath before getting of his motorcycle and throwing himself around the brunette's shoulders once his twin was in range.

Being suddenly assaulted by his younger twin, Sora was caught completely off guard by the excited blond. He was expecting him to still be sulky and gloomy since he himself was still bothered by this morning but finding himself in this predicament was better, much, much better. He made a mental note to thank Namine for whatever it was she did to lift his twin's spirits.

"Whoa there blondie." Riku warned and took a step back to avoid the youngster's short legs as Sora swung them around a little.

"What's this all about? Did you have a good time hanging out with Namine?" Sora asked, setting Roxas down on his feet after a few swings but leaving his arms wrapped loosely around his twin's waist.

"Of course I did! But get this! Uncle Luxord is offering me a space at his gallery! Can you believe it?"

"Wha-what! Are you serious?" Sora beamed, his voice resonating with just as much excitement as Roxas'.

"Yes! Namine told me! I have until this Friday to come up with a theme! I already saw the space and it's perfect!" Roxas exclaimed happily and shook his brother by the shoulders. "Oh! And uncle Luxord said that he'll be expecting us over for dinner this Friday night as well."

"I'm so happy for you Rox! Congrats! But uhh… dinner? Well, there's no sense in turning it down if your deadline is this Friday." Sora shrugged with a smile.

"Wow, this must be a pretty huge deal." Riku commented.

"Yeah it is! Come on, Fatalité is a big name gallery here! It's owned by our uncle and this is just a great opportunity for me to get some recognition around here for my work!"

Riku stared down at the blonde's glowing face before releasing a short laugh, "I'm sorry, this is the first time I've seen you so lively before."

"Oh?"

"When it comes to his art, Roxas seems to undergo this transformation." Sora chuckled, his fingers quickly ruffling through his twin's blonde tresses.

Just coming out of the studio himself, Axel felt a smile tug at the corners of his lips once he set his sights on the trio in front of him, chiefly the blond in the middle. Approaching the three boys, the red head gave them a quick wave.

"Yo!"

"Hey Axel." Riku said while Sora grumbled with discomfort and Roxas slowly began to glare.

"Uhh—" seeing the deathly look on the blonde's face being directed straight towards him, Axel took a deep breath, "Roxy—I-I mean Roxas!" he stumbled clumsily on his words.

Raising a brow at him, Roxas tilted his head, "Yes?"

"I'm sorry, about yesterday, I mean."

Realizing what Axel was planning to do, Riku gave his friend a nod before grabbing an overprotective Sora by the arm and dragging the poor brunette towards his twin's motorcycle. Now alone, just the two of them, Axel took his chance but was quite sure the brunette was still in earshot. Luckily Riku was there to distract Sora enough to forget about even trying to pay attention to the conversation his twin was having with Axel.

"You are?" Roxas asked skeptically before realizing he was all alone with the red head.

"Yes, I am."

The blond swallowed nervously, he didn't like how Riku was helping Axel corner him like this and it didn't help that the silverette was making out with his brother against his motorcycle, his motorcycle of all places! And not just any motorcycle, it was Fenrir!

"S-sure you are!" Roxas spat. "I honestly doubt that you're sorry for kissing me…"

"You're right, I'm not." Axel said, which instantly made Roxas stare up at him instantly.

"Then what are you sorry for!"

"I'm sorry for shocking you and making Sora mad, but I don't regret kissing you." He lowered himself down to Roxas' level, placing his hand under the blonde's chin and lifting his face up to his. "I may have told Sora that I was sorry for kissing you, but truth be told, I'm not." He said before his fingers caressed along Roxas' cheeks and he left the blond standing there, feeling both speechless and embarrassed.

* * *

**A/N: **I just had to get in some Axel and Roxas interaction before the chapter ended since there wasn't really any to begin with. Well what do you guys think? (: I hope it was good enough for all of you readers out there. By the way, Fatalité means destiny in French, that's if I remember correctly. Well, I have chapter 6 in the works now but I can't guarantee when I'll have it finished and uploaded my dears and I'm sorry for that. Anyways, feedback would be great 3 & thank you so much for reading :D


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